New Wisconsin Laws Target Carjacking, Raise Reckless Driving Penalties

WISCONSIN — Democrat Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Wednesday signed two new bills aimed at reducing reckless driving and carjackings.

The bills' passage comes amid an intensified focus on reckless driving in Milwaukee and less than a month after a stolen car crashed into a school bus leaving children injured. One new law, Act 9, increases penalties for reckless driving and requires a "driver improvement surcharge" and "safe ride surcharge" to be imposed on anyone convicted of reckless driving, according to a news release from the governor's office. Those changes included doubling the minimum and maximum fines for each instance of reckless driving. Also, prison sentences for reckless driving that causes bodily harm will increase from 1 year to 2 years, and great bodily harm increases from 2.5 to 6 years.

“Elected officials have a duty to listen to their constituents. I believe this bill signing is a direct product of that. We listened to your concerns and made good on our promises. Now I call upon our judges to do the same and utilize the tools they are given to protect those same citizens," said State Rep. Bob Donovan, a Republican who represents parts of Milwaukee's southern suburbs.

“We have already seen multiple instances of reckless driving terrorizing our streets since this legislation was introduced. This behavior will not end unless a strong message is sent that this lawlessness will not be tolerated. These increased penalties are a vital part of it.”

The other new law, Wisconsin Act 10 creates a new carjacking section of the criminal code, increases penalties for it, and reorganizes the crimes of taking someone's vehicle without consent, the governor's office said.

“Reckless driving and other dangerous behaviors are putting our kids, families, and communities at risk all across our state, and we must do more at the state level to address dangerous behavior on our roads,” Evers said in the release. “I’m proud the first enacted bill of my second term was a aimed at curbing reckless driving, and I am glad to be continuing that work today by signing these bills to address carjacking and ensure reckless driving is treated with the seriousness it requires.”

The new measures come after Evers signed Act 1 in April which allowed municipalities to authorize impounding a vehicle if its owner is cited for reckless driving or has been previously cited but not paid a forfeiture for it.

Evers commended the new laws as a "good place to start" but asked the Republican-controlled legislature to build on his other budget initiatives for road safety like hiring new state troopers, new electric vehicle license plate stickers, and more.

Both laws, mainly authored by state Republicans, made their way through the state legislature by March, according to a report by The Associated Press.