US Highway 70 near Old Brownsville Road

Gallaway, TennesseeAug 16, 20060 Comments

Be aware that if you go past this town, which you cannot even see from the highway, they will stop you if you have a headlight or tail light out, even if you are not speeding. I had been driving all day in the rain from East Tennessee with my headlights on. My right front headlight had gone out, but I was unaware of it. I had stopped for dinner in Brownsville and had decided to continue to Memphis on Highway 70 to see the small towns. What a mistake! I was not speeding, as I am usually scrupulous to observe the speed limits. I had never even heard of Gallaway, but as I came through there, a police car came out of nowehere and stopped me somewhere northeast of the town. Within a minute there were two other police cars there as backup! Rather excessive for a lone, unarmed civilian, don’t you think? I had the misfortune to have left my insurance card at home: I had taken it out of my wallet for an international trip and forgot to put it back. They wrote me two tickets, one for the headlight out and one for the insurance card. They asked me if I had a weapon on me, and I truthfully said no. When I was searching my wallet for the insurance card, they saw my carry permit and told me that I had not told them the truth about not having a weapon. I replied that I had told the truth, since they had asked whether I had a weapon, not whether I had a carry permit. They said that I was supposed to tell them that I had a carry permit. I had never heard of such a thing, nor had two lawyers that I contacted later. One of the officers asked me if we could agree that I did not have a weapon. I replied, "I do not have a weapon on me, no." He said that my tone of voice was not very convincing and asked if I was sure. I asked whether he did not believe me. He said that it just seemed like I was not very sure of my answer. So I repeated, in a firmer voice, "I do not have a weapon on me, no." This satisfied him. I do not understand why he pursued this so far. I suspect that he was trying to antagonize me into a confrontation to give him an excuse to write me yet another ticket, arrest me, or try to search my car. On the way home, I was stopped again in Bartlett by a policeman for the light out. I told him that I knew about the light, and had already been stopped for it. I asked if he was going to give me a ticket. He said no, not for a light out, he just liked to let people know that they had a light out. He seemed rather surprised that I would ask if he was going to give me a ticket for that. Of course, I suspect that this was an opportunity for him to see if I looked like a drug dealer and investigate me further. But he was very nice. He asked me where I got the ticket, and I told him Gallaway. He said, "Those guys up there don’t have enough to do." I found out why they gave me the two tickets when I went to their court to deal with it. The judge dismissed both charges when he saw that I had a valid insurance card and had fixed the light, but he said that when there were two offenses, he always assesed one court cost. I was glad to have the charges dismissed, but it cost me $75. There were about eight or ten police officers in the courtroom dealing with tickets. Why on earth does a tiny place like this need that many police officers? It looks like a money-making scheme to me. Do not ever go through this place and do not spend any of your money there. I do not intend to ever go there again. I hate to say it, but sticking to the main interstates is probably a safer bet.

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