Wisconsin drivers rack up speeding convictions

The statistics don’t paint a pretty picture when it comes to Wisconsin’s drivers.

Three of the top 10 offenses in 2017 were for varying degrees of speeding, leading to nearly 160,000 convictions, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Speeding continues to be a problem in Wisconsin, despite targeted enforcement measures across the state and persistent warnings about the dangers of driving too fast on rural and urban roadways.

”That is a shocker,” David Pabst, director of the DOT’s bureau of safety, said of the speeding numbers. “Obviously, we have a lead-foot (problem) in Wisconsin.”

Pabst said nearly 22 percent of the 738,110 traffic convictions in the state were due to speeding either 1 to 10 mph in excess of the limit, 11 to 19 mph over the limit and 20 or more mph in excess of the limit.

“There’s obviously a lot of speeders,” he said. The convictions don’t include those who were cited in 2017, but have yet to resolve their cases.

Speeding is one of the top issues for state transportation officials because it raises the risk of severe injuries to drivers and passengers when a highspeed crash occurs, he said.

“It still kills a lot of people,” Pabst said.

It’s not just speeding when it comes to high-ranking traffic offenses in the state.

More than 79,000 drivers were found guilty of driving with suspended licenses, while 62,000-plus were convicted of driving without insurance, and over 28,000 were cited for driving without a valid license.