Wednesday, October 4, 2000
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Wednesday, October 4, 2000 |
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Speeders, if you do the crime, you'll do the sign By JOHN MUNFORD Lead-footed drivers are starting to get sticker shock in Fayette County State Court. In addition to a fine, Judge Fletcher Sams has been ordering repeat speeders to display a special bumper sticker on their vehicles. The lime green color helps draw attention to the sticker's message: "In case of moving violation contact State Court of Fayette County 770-461-4703." Needless to say, the stickers aren't popular at all. "They hate the stickers, just hate them," Sams said of the facial expressions he sees as he hands over the sticker. "It does ugly up a car." Just the other day, Sams spotted one of his stickers (they're hard to miss) on a brand new Mercedes. Another time, he saw one on a red pickup truck. "Every one I have seen has been driving below the speed limit," Sams said. Only one driver has appeared before Sams after getting the new sticker, and that was only for a seat belt violation, Sams said. The judge said he hopes the stickers get the drivers' attention in a way that fines haven't. He acknowledges the stickers create a factor of public embarrassment, but he likens that to the old days in Fayette County under Probate Judge James White, who had a standard sentence for speeders in his court. "They were raking leaves at the courthouse square every Saturday," Sams recalled. "So everybody knew who was speeding." Still, Sams contends the bumper stickers serve as an excellent reminder for local motorists to slow down. "These are going to folks who have unhealthy driving records who, in my opinion, the court has failed to get their attention by any other means," Sams said. "They're scared to death with that bumper sticker on their car." The bumper sticker idea sprouted from a local speeder who appeared before Sams several times for speeding and later for violating his probation by speeding again somewhere else. Even a 24-hour jail sentence didn't get the message across. Frustrated, Sams eventually gave the chronic speeder a sticky note to place on the dashboard of his car with the gentle reminder: "Judge Sams is watching me." The note was eventually replaced by a brass plate screwed into the dashboard after the man was caught without the note on display. Afterward, the same guy was caught speeding twice in other jurisdictions. Both times the troopers wrote on the tickets that they noticed the brass plate. Now, however, the judge is satisfied that the former speeder has been rehabilitated. "He has really turned the corner," Sams noted.
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