Percentages skew speeding report

To the editor:

In reading the article regarding minority drivers being stopped at higher percentages then non-minority drivers, I am amazed that this is even being dealt with.

Let me share with you my non-scientific but practical evaluation of this report. I travel I-55 often between Sikeston and St. Louis. I pay some attention to vehicles that are passing me or I am passing. My observation is that there are more whites driving on the interstate than minorities. And I am amazed by how many minorities are passing at higher than posted speed limits. On many occasions there are several cars driven by minorities traveling together, thus increasing the chances of having several of them stopped.

It is evident that if 10 percent of the cars are driven by minorities and if of that amount 10 percent are stopped for speeding, it would stand to reason that a higher percentage of minorities are being stopped.

So for the attorney general to get up in arms over this is nothing more than political grandstanding on an issue that will always remain the same unless minorities are allowed to drive faster than non-minorities.

WILLIAM MITCHELL, Sikeston, Mo.