Letter: DOT officer was protecting the public

This letter is a response to District Court Associate Judge Heather Lauber's ruling that an Iowa Transportation Department Officer didn't have legal authority to issue a speeding ticket ('Judge: Iowa DOT can't ticket speeders,” Oct. 23).

Just suppose this 16-year-old inexperienced driver would have passed an (average Joe citizen), this kid is traveling 84 mph in a 55 mph zone, pulled into the next town and stopped at a convenience store. Just then (average Joe citizen) pulls into the same store, and makes a citizen's arrest on this kid because he knew that the kid was traveling way too fast.

Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? But it might be legal.

This DOT officer was trained to enforce the law and to protect the public from harming others or themselves and that was exactly what he was doing.

Every one of us has had a close friend or relative that has been injured or killed in a traffic accident. This officer was trying to prevent another statistic.

This kid should have been disciplined by his parents instead of his parents hiring a lawyer to get him out of the ticket. If this would have ended in an accident, I wonder if they would put the blame on law enforcement for not stopping him, issuing a ticket, and calling his parents to come and drive him home.

Finally, the lawyer that took the case should be ashamed of himself for even saying yes to this kid's parents.

Mike Schroeder

Dyersville