Only offense was being out late at night

To the editor:

It's a sad state we live in when Missouri's finest can pull someone over on a trumped-up charge and give you a ticket because he doesn't think you are as polite as you should be.

I was stopped shortly after midnight on Highway 74. My only crime was being a law-abiding citizen out after midnight. The first words out of the trooper's mouth were, "Where are you going?" I told him, "What does it matter where I'm going?" I was issued a ticket for making a lane change without giving a turn signal.

I don't drink or use drugs. My only crime was being out after midnight in a car that a younger person would drive. I am 47 years old. Believe it or not, some of us have legitimate reasons for being out late. It is easy to see that the real reason I was pulled over was because the trooper thought someone out after midnight must be drinking.

Why wasn't I more polite to him? This happens all the time to me. I'm really getting tired of being stopped because of the time of night I'm out or the kind of car I drive. I think he could been have more tactful.

ROBERT DALE LANCE

Cape Girardeau