Englewood, Tennessee Speed Traps

Traveling north on 411, a section of divided highway, where the speed limit is 55 mph, I was taken completely by suprise when the road curved sharply to the right and became a two-lane road once again. The officer was sitting right there in that fork. He claimed to have clocked me going 65 mph, while 60 mph is what I had been traveling at with cruise control, and said the speed limit was 45. He wrote me a ticket for 20 over and even had the price of the ticket availible for this Georgia boy, which I found unusual information for an officer to have on the spot. After I got the ticket, we turned around to see how it was posted, and all we found was a 45 mph sign, hidden among the useless warnings of road construction on the downhill just before the merge, no "speed zone ahead" or indication of the change in the road. I told the officer I simply did not see the sign, but apparently a person’s word is useless when money is involved. My biggest complaint is that we treated like criminals from the start, with no attempt from the officer to gauge the threat or the honesty of the guy he has heroically pulled over for that terrible crime of speeding. He knew he was writing me a ticket when he saw the tag on my truck.

Traveling south on 411, choose route for scenery, instead of 1-75. Stopped at the one traffic light in town, began to proceed and passed a police vehicle. The officer abruptly turned his head around and viewed the back of my car. Within minutes, he pulled me over and gave me a ticket for reckless driving (22 mph over the limit, poor visibility and wet conditions). I appeared in court to contest the ticket and provided a photograph of the conditions, after the officer said it was raining heavily and standing water…the picture showed visibility was in no way hampered and that the roads were only damp. The reckless driving was dropped but I was still charged with speeding, even though they had no proof. Another GA. man was in court the same day, same ticket, caught in same location, same direction, and he was found guilty too! I am presently appealing in McMinn County Court.

Stopped going 45 at 1:30 am. I was the only car on road for miles. 30 mph signs posted 3 times on southbound. 1st sign was way off road and bullet riddled, 2nd was hid by another sign, 3rd was turned at an angle which did not relate to highway 411.