CG and Mayor Johnson ask insurance companies to help fund drivers education
Common Ground and Mayor Johnson ask insurance companies to help fund drivers education for MPS students
On Tuesday, May 31, Common Ground and Mayor Cavalier Johnson held a press conference to address two issues that impact the quality of life here in the city — reckless driving and transportation inequity for many Milwaukee residents.
“I am tired of feeling unsafe when I drive through the streets of Milwaukee,” said Common Ground strategy team member Brenda McMurtry. “Cars are being used as weapons.”
Part of the problem is that many of Milwaukee’s students simply don’t have access to driver’s education. That’s why Common Ground is campaigning for universal, affordable, driver’s education for all Milwaukee high school students. While it won’t completely solve the reckless-driving problem, Mayor Johnson said that teenagers need to know the fundamentals.
"They should know things like passing on the right is wrong,” said Johnson. “They ought to know that a yellow traffic signal does not mean speed up. And, they should know that tailgating is not a way to ask the car in front of you to go faster.”
Milwaukee Public Schools offers driver’s education classes through the Milwaukee Recreation Department, but it’s difficult to get into the program. 15,000 MPS students are eligible, but there are only 4,000 spots available, and they are gone within hours. They go almost faster than BTS tickets. Ask your grandkids.
Aaliyah Hunt knows how much easier her life would be if she could just drive a car. The busy 17-year old is an honor student at Pathways High, and she would love to be even more involved with school, but she just doesn’t have time. She works five-hour shifts at night to pay a few of the family bills and save for college. When the school bus doesn’t show up, Aaliyah has to accompany her autistic sister to a different school in another part of the city.
When she can’t get a ride from her mom, Aaliyah relies on the woefully underfunded and needlessly complicated county bus system, which means it takes forever to get anywhere. Some mornings, Aaliyah starts her day a couple of hours behind the rest of her classmates.
“Access to a car would change my life,” said Hunt. The problem? She can’t afford the drivers education classes she needs to get her permit.
The impacts of not having a driver’s license go beyond a lack of proper driving instruction. Kids can’t find and keep a job because of unreliable transportation. They don’t have an ID for voting. And not having a state ID only increases the chance of a negative encounter with police.
The racial inequity numbers are, of course, telling. Only 30% of African-American and Latino 18-year olds have a driver’s license compared to 75% of white 18-year olds. It’s not okay.
To fund the program, Common Ground and Mayor Johnson signed letters asking the three major auto insurers in our area — American Family, Progressive, and State Farm — to share the $1.7 million annual cost of universal driver’s education for all Milwaukee high school students. So far, only American Family has responded to any kind of query.
According to an article by Chuck Quirmbach at 89.7 WUWM, “The company's social impact officer, Jim Buchheim, says he's interested in learning more about Common Ground's Universal Driver Education Campaign.”
You know what to do, Common Ground.
As for Aaliyah, getting around the city by car would save her five to six hours each week. That sounds pretty life changing to us.
Stay tuned to hear about our progress on this important issue.
Here is some of the press coverage:
Urban Milwaukee https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2022/05/31/transportation-a-new-plan-for-universal-drivers-education/?fme=5fb59e1e03
Journal Sentinel https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2022/05/31/milwaukee-mayor-insurance-companies-should-fund-universal-drivers-ed/7453988001/
Fox6
https://www.fox6now.com/news/mps-drive-program-insurance-companies (Both a segment and the full 17 minutes of press conference)