[filament]

I have a BIG Beef. As a snow bird, I received a ticket... not bad, I was speeding on Morris. I had to go to the traffic school.So you know that I was very careful, putting on my cruise control everywhere I wentOne day I was on my way to the airport to pick up a friend. I had to drop off some books at the Sumpter County Library on PARR Drive... the road that runs parallel to 477.

That morning I went to AAA to get the directions. The scuttlebutt that was going on was that the cops target out of staters... with upscale cars... on 301 and in that area... the MPH changes without too much notice quickly. In other words they "profile" we seniors ... thinking if we have a nice car with out of state plates.. their fines are chump change to us.

I was really cautious, but not being familiar with the territory I made a deadly error.

I was pulling out of the Library to make a turn to go to 301 toward the TP. I was in the left hand lane making the turn onto 466-- which put me in the middle lane.. not the curb lane

I drove for about 1 mile and saw a blinking school sign.. so I slowed to 15 mph and put on my cruise control. I continued on past McDonalds when I saw the lights flashing. I pulled over thinking that they must have someone in mind in front of me. The cop stopped me for not slowing down for the first school - directly across the street fromthe Library.

I got 2 points and a $180 ticket. Here is the rub...

#1. There is one tiny little sign after you turn the corner onto 466.. about the size of an 8 1/2 x ll" paper... stating that between certain hours the MPH changes to 15.

No sign on the street...SCHOOL ZONE ...like we have up north...NO blinking light above the street.... If you were turning as I was there would be almost no way you could see that sign..

#2. There is no break in the curb on 466... in fact there is no entrance to that first school. The entrance in on the street leading to 466.... There is NO way anyone would be crossing or pulling out in that area..

#3. The cop followed me for about .7 mile before he stopped me. It was obvious that he wanted to get me for passing two schools... or else he would have stopped me after the 1st school.

What I want to do is to find out if --through freedom of information---I can get the # of tickets that are written there in the first three months of the year..

I am confident that it is a Purposeful Speed Trap to get you and me.... with chump change to fill their coffers.

Not only is it a speed trap, but I think that they are purposefully after out of state licences...people who may not be familiar with the environs...Then I would write an article or visit the Sumpter Landing council meeting... but I cannot let this thing sit.. I really feel had.

Any comments? Little old lady from Pittsburgh