Gene gets a speeding ticket...

Oh, where to begin?

Speeding Ticket Letter

Gene Chapman, 2008 U. S. Presidential Candidate
P. O. Box 295545
Lewisville, Texas 75029

January 3, 2007

General Sessions Court
Room 101 Judicial Building
Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37130

Re: T175406

Dear Honorable Court:

With respect, my age and experience leads me to believe that the best way to be heard on the matters I wish to address is in written form.

On January 2, 2007, I was traveling South bound on Hwy. 231 from Lebanon, Tennessee to what my map indicates to be exit 81 on I-24 in my 18 wheeler (flatbed). I entered I-24 South bound and quickly came upon bridge construction with a pile of traffic on my rear bumper.

I slowed to approximately 65 mph, noting that I was holding up traffic in the left lane behind me and having looked intensely for a speed sign since my arrival on I-24, to no avail.

Slowed to 65? Over 65 as he was merging onto a freeway? I admit I don't know what the interchange from this one freeway to the other looks like, but prudence would indicate over 65 while looking at a map and merging onto another freeway, while driving an 18 wheeler (flatbed) is stupid and dangerous.

I noted the State DOT Officer taking interest in me at the start of the bridge construction median area but had no known reason to slow any further, so I continued at 65 mph until I finally saw a 50 mph sign at what is the end of the construction zone, with the trooper behind me. I slowed for the 50 mph sign and then sped up, as the 70 mph sign was just another 50 yards down the freeway, pulling into the right lane to allow the DOT Officer to either pass or pull me on over, since I had only then learned of the 50 mph speed limit in the construction zone.

One would think a "professional" driver would know that the speed limit starts at the speed limit sign, not "50 yards ahead".

(Note: The reason I was travelling in the left lane, a legal lane for my travel, was that the right lane was packed full of trucks and cars travelling at 65 to 70 mph with only feet between them. So, being a professional driver, I remained in the left lane where I had about 300 yards (900 feet) of clear interstate lane ahead of me.)

It should also be noted that the very next day, I came into a construction zone South of Olive Branch, Mississippi that shut an entire lane down, unlike the situation in Tennessee which left all lanes to run freely. Highway 78 had a interstate corridor setup and had a speed limit of 70 mph, so you see that it is very reasonable for a professional driver to expect to travel 70 mph in a construction zone when knowing nothing of the expected speed for that construction zone and wanting to cruise with traffic in order not to become a slower moving traffic hazard until the speed expectation is known.

1) I continue to dispute whether there was a speed limit sign between where I entered I-24 at exit 81, per my map, and where the trooper saw me at the beginning of the bridge construction.

2) I contend that I was operating my vehicle safely for the driving environment, given that the traffic around me was traveling at the same or similar speed and no workers were immediately present in the construction zone. (The troopers and speed signs were clearly not impacting the speed of the traffic until is was too late for the driver to adjust.)

3) I am a professional driver who takes great pride in not having a speeding ticket in 16 years, to my knowledge.

"To my knowledge"? How could you not have knowledge of being given a speeding ticket?
Perhaps that's an alternate reality thing. Oh, and note the "16 years".

4) My employer informs me that should I fail to remove this single ticket from my record, I will lose my insurance coverage and my entire career will come to a halt.

I think you will agree that something very is wrong in America when a million mile plus accident free owner/ operator can, on a clear day in Tennessee, cruising with traffic, seeking a speed limit sign that seems not to exist, lose his entire career over one speeding ticket, the first in his entire 12 year career.

12 year career? I thought it was 16? Was 4 of those years in your alternate reality?

I hope unknowingly, the State of Tennessee has created a "speed trap" in Murfreesboro for even the best professional drivers in the world, undermining the integrity of the highway safety programs across America and intruding upon Interstate Commerce expectations of visible speed limit signs on both the right and left lanes in construction zones. There were clearly no speed limit signs in the left lane where I was being tail gated at 65 mph. And if one were in the right lane behind another 18 wheeler, clearly, I was not in a position to see it.

We must take greater care of workers in construction zones across America than what I observed and experienced in Murfreesoboro, whatever the outcome of my case.

So should I be elected the President of The United States in 2008, I will work closely with my Secretary of Transportation to abolish "speed traps," both willful and accidental, across America. I will do this by passing legislation requiring speed limit signs be posted on both sides of the road in construction zones at 1/10th mile intervals throughout to zone, so that vehicles engaged in Interstate Commerce, etc., will remain fully informed of expectations in these sometimes dangerous environments. The result will be safer construction zones, a more informed driving public and less court time and costs for the good citizens of America because of bad or failed construction zone design/ signage.

I will be in court on February 23rd and 8:30 a.m., as the ticket requests. I will request a jury trial or an equitable solution.

Most respectfully,



Gene Chapman, 2008 U. S. Presidential Candidate
ChapmanForPresident08.com
cell: 972-872-0784

cc: Geroge W. Bush, President of The United States
Phil Bredesen, Governor of Tennessee
Tennessee Media