Hit-and-run crashes surge in Milwaukee and across the country.

Study shows they’re increasing across country; in city, they account for almost 30% of all crashes

A truck traveling at freeway speeds on a Milwaukee street crashes into a mother driving home from Mass, killing her.

A stolen Jeep Liberty runs a stop sign and hits a car on the city’s west side, killing a 65-year-old woman in the passenger seat and critically injuring the driver.

A blue SUV hits another vehicle late one Friday, causing the vehicle to crash and sending the driver to the hospital.

In all of these Milwaukee cases from this year, the driver who caused the crash fled — a growing trend in the city and across the country, according to new data.

The overall number of hit-and-run crashes in Milwaukee has steadily increased every year since 2013 and those crashes are accounting for a larger share of total crashes in the city.

Hit-and-run crashes made up 24% of all crashes in 2013. By the end of last year, that figured had risen to 29% of all crashes.

A new study from the AAA Foundation for Safety found a hit-and-run crash occurs every minute on U.S. roads.

In Milwaukee, Police Chief Alfonso Morales pinpointed the department’s pursuit policy change in 2010 as a key factor.

“We stopped really addressing the reckless driving,” he said Thursday before a Common Council committee. “We stopped chasing cars for a number of different reasons.”

Chases are dangerous and can be costly, in terms of loss of life, injuries and property, Morales said.

The Police Department changed its policy in 2015 and again last fall, which coincided with the department cracking down on reckless drivers who were speeding and running red lights.

Morales said the Police Department and Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office will announce a new traffic initiative on Monday.

And there has been progress so far this year, with a drop in crashes in the past two months, the chief said.

He and Assistant Chief Michael Brunson asked the council for help in spreading the message: “We will pursue.”

As of April 19, police have reported 253 pursuits, compared to 51 pursuits at the same time last year, Brunson said.

“We all know that traffic safety comes down to three E’s: enforcement, engineering and education,” he said.

“It’s going take some time for that message to get out to the general public,” he added.

Ald. Terry Witkowski, who asked the Police Department to discuss the issue before the committee, said hit-and-run drivers show “shocking and reckless behavior.”

He noted the consequences for offenders are substantial. The potential penalties in Wisconsin are more severe than in surrounding state’s, the city’s Legislative Reference Bureau found.

As the new study from the AAA Foundation for Safety found, hit-andrun crashes are increasing across the country, not only in Milwaukee.

Nationwide, hit-and-run crashes resulted in 2,049 deaths in 2016, the highest number on record and a 60% increase since 2009, according to the study.

Most of those killed in hit-and-run crashes — 65% — were pedestrians or bicyclists.

“Hit-and-run crashes in the United States are trending in the wrong direction,” said David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, in a release with the study.

He called the crashes “a growing traffic safety challenge.”

The organization is urging drivers to be aware of pedestrians, be cautious and watch for children and to be patient, waiting for pedestrian or cyclists to pass.

If a driver is involved in a crash, he or she should remain at the scene, said Nick Jarmusz, director of public affairs for AAA – The Auto Club Group.

“While no one likes being involved in a crash, leaving the scene will significantly increase the penalties for drivers, whether they caused the crash or not,” he said.