Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson joined Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Secretary Craig Thompson Thursday in the Deer District to announce a brand-new partnership in traffic safety.
Wisconsin, like many states across the country, is seeing a trend of deadly traffic crashes and risky driving behaviors like speeding and reckless driving.
Reckless driving is a danger that puts everyone at risk on the roads. It can include driving behaviors like speeding, improper lane changes, and inattentive, erratic, or negligent driving.
Control Your Drive is WisDOT’s new advertising campaign focused on putting an end to reckless driving across the state. A video featuring Bobby Portis will air during Bucks games at Fiserv Forum throughout the current season.
“Safety is at the center of what we do at WisDOT. Today, it means working cooperatively with the Bucks and the city of Milwaukee, sharing our resources, so that together we can be as effective as possible,” Secretary Thompson said. “We cannot bring change on our own, which is why we’re thrilled to have Bobby Portis joining us in our mission to prevent tragedies.”
The new partnership with the Milwaukee Bucks and Portis, and WisDOT’s continued work with the city of Milwaukee, are crucial steps to reduce injuries and deaths on Wisconsin roads.
“Reducing reckless driving is a high priority for me, and it is great to have Bobby Portis joining the effort,” Mayor Johnson said. “Reckless driving interrupts the quality of life here, and, even more significantly, too many people are hurt or killed at the hands of reckless drivers. Together, we’re working to make our streets safer.”
The Control Your Drive ad will also run as a commercial spot, and air online and on social media, sending the safety message to as many drivers as possible in the state.
“From the basketball court to the roads of Wisconsin, the ‘Control Your Drive’ message is universal,” Portis said. “I hope Bucks fans – and all drivers – who see our new video will remember it every time they get in a vehicle and keep their focus on driving safely.”
Reckless driving is a significant threat to traffic safety in Wisconsin:
About 2,900 people are injured by a reckless driver every year
Reckless driving killed 87 people so far in 2022; 113 people died in 2021
WisDOT asks all drivers to focus on their most important role behind the wheel: Put safety first on every trip. Slow down, put the phone down and pay attention to the road ahead.
