June 20, 2021 11a
(WGTD)---An apparent increase in cases of extreme, excessive speeding, coupled with new data confirming that speed more than ever tops alcohol as a leading cause of traffic fatalities in Wisconsin, has the judicial and law enforcement communities worried.
Dick Ginkowski is Pleasant Prairie’s Municipal Judge and also serves as President of the Wisconsin Municipal Judges Association. "Nationwide as we are now gathering this data, judges are beginning to talk among themselves as what do we do about it," Ginkowski says, adding that extreme speeding tickets have almost become an epidemic. "And by that I'm talking about people who are going 30, 35, 40 over the limit."
Ginkowski recently had in front of him a young man who was going 114 mph in a 45 mph zone on Green Bay Rd.
In California and Minnesota, speeding citations where the speed was 100 mph or higher more than doubled between 2019 and 2020.
Ginkowski says judges are divided on reasons behind the increase in extreme speeding, but the leading contenders include a slow-down in enforcement during the pandemic and fewer vehicles on the roads that might have emboldened some drivers.
In Wisconsin last year, speed continued to top alcohol as the leading factor behind fatalities. 33% of all fatalities were speed-related, up a percentage point from the year before. By contrast, 27% were alcohol-related, a number that remained the same from the year before.
Ginkowski says judges have few tools at their disposal to deal with aggressive speeders. The primary one is license suspension. He says Illinois has begun requiring mandatory court appearances in cases of excessive speeding, and has also eliminated the option of participation in a diversion program.
-0-