Police Officer Writes Emotional Post After Giving Teen Going 100 mph Speeding Ticket
An Ohio police officer has penned an emotional note after ticketing an 18-year-old driver for speeding down a Cleveland highway at 100 mph.
On Dec. 16, the officer from the North Ridgeville Police Department began the hard-hitting post with two words: “You’re Welcome.”
“I’d like to believe that you were minutes away from creating an unspeakable Christmas tragedy when I stopped you,” the officer wrote to the teenager.
The teen’s speed was so excessive, the officer believed someone would have ended up dead — either the driver, or someone who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“You said you didn’t realize how fast you were going. That’s a lie,” the officer continued.
The officer pointed out that it’s impossible not to notice the excessive speed as each mile flies by when driving at 100 miles per hour.
“You were scared when I stopped you,” the officer wrote. “You were visibly shaking and breathing hard.”
But the teen was only scared about being caught — not scared because of the very real danger he or she put everyone in.
While it’s easy for teens to think they are invincible, the officer was quick to reassure readers that nobody is invincible.
“I can tell you dozens of stories of dead and broken 18-year-old bodies that I’ve pulled from cars,” the officer wrote.
“Broken bodies that I’ve found in front yards after crashes. Unrecognizable bodies. They thought they were invincible too.”
This officer has been in the unfortunate position of telling parents that their child is dead. It’s not easy for parents to give their kids keys to the car and let go of control — all they can do is hope that their teen will make responsible choices.
“When you leave the house they know that, far and away, the best chance you have of dying that day is in that car,” the officer wrote.
“Sometimes you’re the innocent person hit by someone with no regard for anyone else and sometimes you’re the one with no regard for anyone else. Today you were the latter.”
The officer hopes the financial and emotional pain of the speeding ticket will cause the teen to think differently in the future.
“I don’t feel bad about this ticket at all. In fact, I’m proud of it,” the officer said.
“I hope you’re paying it off for months and with every payment you think about how it wasn’t worth it.”
Thanks to the officer’s brutal honesty, thousands of readers are seeing the post on social media, hopefully preventing senseless driving tragedies this holiday season and beyond.
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