MILWAUKEE — In 'Project: Driver Safer', an insurance group says everyone pays the price when there are too many reckless drivers on the road.
Milwaukee producer and director Jeffrey Cannady spends most of his days driving to different locations around the city to shoot video for his clients and business.
"I got to lug my equipment around and I am always taking the inner-city routes,” said Cannady.
He says this Spring he was on his way to a job, going down Fond du Lac Avenue by Milwaukee Police Department’s District 7, when he encountered a reckless driver. Cannady says he attempted to avoid that driver and that's when things escalated.
“They drove up on the side of me and fired into my vehicle,” said Cannady.
Cannady reported it to Milwaukee Police. They say they are investigating and still looking for a suspect. Cannady also reported it to his insurance and now he is paying a couple hundred dollars more a month in insurance costs.
"Definitely reported it and my insurance has skyrocketed,” said Cannady.
Angela Marion heads up the Community Insurance Information Center, a non-profit in the Milwaukee area that works to educate people about insurance and how it works.
"You come into an accident and they take off, you are at the mercy of your own insurance policy,” said Marion.
She says people do not have to drive recklessly or even be hit by a reckless driver to feel the effects. Insure.com says between 2020 and 2022 the average cost of auto insurance in Wisconsin increased by 18 percent. Marion says there are many factors that go into those increased costs.
“You have more drivers on the road, you have more frequency and severity of accidents,” said Marion.
Those factors also include people who drive recklessly.
"It is a huge impact with reckless driving as well as legal litigation, as well as inflation. It is causing everything to go up,” said Marion.
Some good news if you need to get insurance: Wisconsin has one of the lowest rates in the country when it comes to the cost of insuring a vehicle. It ranks as having the seventh lowest premiums in the U.S. according to Wisconsin Insurance Alliance.
