Unregistered Cars Can Be Towed For Reckless Driving After Milwaukee Proposal Passes

MILWAUKEE, WI — Drivers with unregistered cars would have their cars towed by Milwaukee police starting May 1, the Milwaukee Police Department announced on Friday.

The Milwaukee Police and Fire Commission passed a resolution Thursday to allow police to tow away unregistered cars, meaning without a visible license plate or temporary plate, if the driver has broken any four reckless driving ordinances.

These are the ordinances that have to be broken for a Milwaukee police officer to be able to tow away an unregistered car, according to the resolution text.

• Endangering safety by reckless driving
• Exceeding the speed limit by 25 mph or more
• Fleeing from officers
• Racing on a highway

The resolution adds to the Milwaukee Police Department's guidelines for towing away cars and follows a wave of reckless driving incidents in the city since the start of the year. In Milwaukee, accidents have killed 67 people since January 2022, Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office data showed.

Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee's acting mayor and a candidate in the mayoral race, gave the amendment his support in January. In a questionnaire, Johnson said reckless driving was one of the biggest issue the city faced.

"I share our community's frustration with reckless driving," Johnson said in a letter to the commission board. "It is a problem that makes our roadways feel unsafe, and, far more significantly, it has killed and injured people in Milwaukee."

Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, an activist organization based in the city, voiced concerns about the amendment and urged board members to vote no.

"We encourage you to vote no and find more creative solutions that are not punitive and would lead to more challenges in our community," the organization said in a letter.

A 17-year-old was arrested after being involved in a rollover crash that totaled several cars in a north side auto lot on Feb. 3. A Lamers school bus was struck by a hit-and-run driver before it hit a house and destroyed a wheelchair lift in the city's northwest side on Jan. 31.

Wisconsin residents who haven't registered their cars yet can apply for registration at the Department of Transportation website.