To the Editor:
Beautiful, quaint Brantley enforces its speed laws and tickets are expensive.
Most folks going on vacation are just like most of us, honest and hard-working. They may be fro another town in Alabama or even from another state, but they are just good folks trying to go to the beach for a vacation and some good seafood. They are mostly just like us, and a $210 ticket from Brantley’s police may mean they eat bologna sandwiches instead of seafood or have to sleep in the car instead of enjoying the comfort of a motel. That’s a bummer.
That’s just not fair. Shame on you, Brantley. Operate your town with income from your own community. Do not depend on out-of-towners to fill your coffers with ill-gotten money from vacationers. One must realize that drivers are coming off a four-lane from Luverne with a 65-mph limit or just off a 28-mile stretch from Opp with two long downhill runs leading into Brantley. Then … WHAM … you are hit with 45, then 35, then 25 mph signs entering Brantley. Why not put up a big warning sign?
I travel from Luverne to Florida often and know the signs and obey them. But what about the unsuspecting vacationer? … BAM… Speeding ticket, $210. Great for Brantley, bad for tourism. Most folks will be so mad they will try to get the H… out of Alabama before stopping again, and there goes our tourist dollars, thanks to Brantley’s efforts.
Brantley, police your own town. Check those log trucks and your neighbors leaving the service station with one beer in a sack. You know they are going to down it on the way home.
Take a look at the “good ole boys” with the lift kits and big tires on their trucks. You know they are going to tear up somebody’s road or pasture just for fun.
Enforce your drug laws and teach your police to educate the kids of the dangers of drugs, speeding and texting.
On Saturday morning, sit at the town limits with your blue lights flashing to slow drivers and wave and smile.
Don’t rob the travelers. They are good folks, just like you. Show a little more Andy Griffith and a little less Barney Fife. And let Sweet Home Alabama shine.
Earl Dees
Luverne