Visitor to Decatur, AL
May I express my extreme displeasure with your police department in Decatur, AL. I came into town very late on a Sun night back on July 20,2008 with the intentions of staying the night and then off to play golf at the Robert Trent Jones course up at the Shoals..great golf course, by the way!
Traffic was nil at 11 pm when I came into town Sun eve, driving up from Birmingham where I flew in from, and found a nice divided road, hwy 67 coming into town. I recall seeing orange barrels pushed into the median but no road activity going on. I stayed at the Jamison Inn..again a very nice hotel to which I was most impressed by its economical price and amenities.
The next morning I head out and recall seeing an officer in the median as I turned left at a light from the hotel, but gave him no second thought. Two blocks from the hotel and after my turn I see his lights go on and enter the roadway and at the same time I see a 30 mph speed limit sign. I was caught speeding in what had appeared to me to be common 45 mph zone with its
divided road, etc as explained above.
There was no roadway construction going on in that immediate area the evening before nor this morning as well. I apologized to the officer and stated exactly what I did for you above and
where I was going. He said at that point “let me just check out your license.” He then returned with a ticket to my disbelief. I said I can’t believe you are not giving me a warning instead as I stated what had occurred. I also commented that this was terrible way to treat a tourist to your area. Obviously that all fell on deaf ears. I have no license issues nor warrants, fyi.
I contacted the Traffic Lt the next day and explained exactly the same scenario as already stated. While he had sympathy for the situation he said there was no tolerance for that area due to construction. He did ask for the officer’s name and replied that “he gets kinda spastic like that.” Great to hear that with no resolution!
I did all of this whining just to say that it made for an unpleasant day and memory of your dear town to which I would hard pressed to return. Thought you should know what a tourist feels and how he was treated. My golf friends and I will golf and vacation elsewhere in the future.
Loading ...
