The Scoop: Taking one radar gun is not enough
Here are some thoughts on things taking place around the county and around the state:
• I have yet to see the problem with City Administrator Herb Llewellyn taking a radar gun from a police car to use at his son’s baseball practice. I’m surprised anyone would complain about such a thing.
Are these people upset because they didn’t get a speeding ticket on the way to work and really, really want one? Maybe their car insurance rates just aren’t high enough already and an extra speeding ticket would sure do the trick.
I know, maybe we can all complain our taxes are too low. Maybe if we all push hard enough, we can get the price of car tags raised from $54 to something like $97.
If the city’s head honcho is going to take away a radar gun, I’m sure not going to argue with his wisdom. Based on my bad luck, and my wife’s Talladega-like driving style, speeding tickets are an unfortunate part of our driving records.
I’ll get pulled over for thinking about speeding. As for my Cupcake, I’m sure not going to sit here and say she drives too fast. It’s better to say the numbers on the speedometer just don’t go high enough to please her.
It’s with that in mind I say the problem I have with Llewellyn’s actions is he took just one radar gun. The way I figure it, he left too many behind. A better idea would be to remove all the radar guns from every police car. That way more baseball teams, and more kids, could benefit from the use of radar to clock their fastballs.
• The case of a Hispanic man allegedly giving a 1-year-old sips of beer at the local Mexican restaurant has made headlines over the past week. I’ve heard of underage drinking, but this is ridiculous.
In the old days, you used to have to worry about teenagers slipping out of the house and drinking beer while riding the back roads. Nowadays, I suppose you have to worry about them slipping out of their crib.
I don’t see any way prosecutors are going to make charges stick in this case. If it does actually make its way to a courtroom before charges are dropped, I would bet the estate on a not-guilty verdict. Actually estate is too lofty a term. It would be more accurate to say I’d bet my modest home situated on a half-acre lot.
• You’ve got to scratch your head about this story from Memphis. Remember the 82-year-old grandmother who lost control of her car and plowed into a group of elementary school children in November? Well the woman never lost her license and she returned to the school last week in the same car – still dented from the accident. This created outrage by the way.
I realize the Tennessee Department of Safety isn’t composed of the brightest collection of individuals (these are the folks who decided to grant legal driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants last year) but someone needs to sound an alarm and wake up these people.
This 82-year-old woman needs to be taken off the road. Her driving privileges should be revoked.
It’s more than a subtle sign when grandma plows down nine students and one teacher on school property. That’s like taking out a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl – “Granny’s license needs to go!”
What’s unfortunate is just about everyone in the state realizes this except the folks who work for the Department of Safety.
• And last but not least, a story in today’s Standard tells us a local woman received 30 days in jail for filing a false police report that she was brutally raped by two men. If the two men would have been convicted of those charges, they would have faced 15 to 25 years in jail. For some women out there, that might not be such a bad gamble.
(James Clark is editor of the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)