PrintJuly 31, 2010
Go Granny, Go!
An 84 year old fights back against a traffic camera report that placed her on a high speed midnight motorcycle run.
84 year old Jean Robinson of Lexington, Virginia was astounded when she opened her mail a few days ago. Now Jean readily admits that she'd set her cruise control at 70 mph when she still ventured out on the interstate when Virginia's limit was only 65. She'd do so to avoid being knocked ovewr to the shoulder by the many semi tractor trailors on that route. But this something different altogether than following the flow of traffic. Based on their traffic camera Bluff City, Tennessee, some 200 miles to the southwest on the I-81 corridor, had issued Jean her first ever speeding ticket for driving a motorcycle above the speed limit at three minutes after midnight.
Jean's first reaction was what many cities count on when they install traffic cameras.
"I thought maybe I ought to send them the money and not worry about it, and that's the last thing you should do."
Jean called Problem Solvers, a feature of WSLS, the NBC affiliate in Roanoke, Virginia. They called the Tennessee police department that had issued the citation.
Bluff City's Police Chief tells me his officer should have caught that the registration information didn't match with the motorcycle and never sent Jean a ticket.
No kidding! I can't think of a better poster girl than Jean Robinson for those who maintain that the use of speed cameras is far more about raising revenue, especially in the form of tickets issued to taxpayers who live far away, than it is about enforcing traffic laws in the interest of public safety.
