Milwaukee Gets Its Wish, City Can Tow All Reckless Drivers
Loopholes in prior policies made them "somewhat useless," according to Ald. Scott Spiker.
After a two-year wait, the City of Milwaukee is on the verge of a major change in its towing policy. A state law approved on Tuesday will allow the city to tow and impound any vehicle driven recklessly.
The new law is a significant escalation from the previous policy, which allowed reckless drivers to continue on their way after receiving a citation. In 2022, the city was permitted to impound vehicles driven recklessly if they were unregistered. A 2023 change extended this to cases where the driver owned the vehicle and had an unpaid reckless driving citation.
Those conditions, we found out, made the ordinance we passed somewhat useless.
The 2022 change resulted in 595 tows through February 11, 2025, while the 2023 change added only 11 more.
Ald. Scott Spiker discussed the new law at a press conference on Wednesday at the city's tow lot.
Author's summary: Milwaukee can now tow all reckless drivers.
- 2022 change: 595 tows through February 11, 2025
- 2023 change: 11 additional tows