2 shocking crashes lead to calls for safer driving on Milwaukee’s roads

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – Two incidents where cars drove off elevated highways and onto lower roadways at two different interchanges highlight the dangers and troubling trends of speeding and drunk driving.

New records from the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office indicate speed was a factor in a crash on Feb. 6 when Richard Oliver lost control of his pickup truck and drove off an elevated highway and fell about 70 feet onto a road below.

MCSO said in its report Oliver was going 77 miles per hour which is above the posted speed limit. The report said Oliver’s vehicle hit the barrier on his right, then hit the one on his left then hit the one again on the right before going over the snowbank and barrier. Oliver was cited for speeding, losing control of his vehicle and driving with a revoked license.

According to a GoFundMe page, Oliver is out of the hospital and back home recovering.

AAA Wisconsin told CBS 58 even with fewer cars on the road because of the pandemic, Wisconsin has seen higher numbers of crashes, with speed a factor in many of them.

“As we saw in some of the crashes that have been going viral, those were single car crashes,” Nick Jarmusz, of AAA Wisconsin, said. “So even if you’re driving on your own and you’ve got the road to yourself, make sure you’ve got an appropriate speed to match the conditions on the roadway.”

Police said impaired driving was a factor in another incident of a car flying off an elevated highway. Authorities say 27-year-old Kelce Gold was arrested for OWI on Feb. 14 after video showed her vehicle driving over an elevated westbound barrier at the Marquette Interchange, falling to a ramp below. Gold was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

“Those were horrendous experiences,” said Celia Jackson, the co-founder of the Coalition for Safe Driving MKE.

Jackson said the videos of the crashes are shocking, but hopes people take away important lessons from watching them.

“We can’t say it loudly enough that people need to be careful how they navigate these ramps, whether it’s the speed that they have or if they are impaired in some way or even distracted,” Jackson said.

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