Lakeway Resident Fights Against Speed Traps

Whether you see him as a real life superhero, doing good work warning fellow drivers, or a man who is helping others brake the law, we just thought that the story of Lakeway resident Lance Mitchell was worth telling. Fed up with the speed traps in his town, the man decided to fight back against them all by himself. Mitchell, co-founder of the website SpeedTrapAhead.org, is taking to the streets and warning other motorists about nearby speed traps.

"Not a lot of people flash their lights to warn others nowadays. But, I DO! And when I see a speed trap, I go back up the road a bit, and stand on the sidewalk, wearing my SpeedTrapAhead T-shirt," Mitchell says in a recent interview given to Statesman online publication.

Soon after the SpeedTrapAhead site’s launch, it was hosting discussions about driving related issues like: Was crossing over a white line technically illegal or merely not recommended? Does state law require that you produce a driver's license if detained?

If he's out on the road and spots a speed trap, Mitchell will go back to a spot ahead of the trap, then don a bright orange "Speed Trap Ahead" t-shirt, alerting other motorists of the waiting radar. "I'll be out again soon! Any time, any place I see a cop blasting out radar, I'll be not too far away, blasting out my message," said the determined motorist crusader.

It comes as no surprise that the Lakeway Police Department doesn't exactly agree with Lance Mitchell's methods. It's fined him, jailed him and eventually the two went to court in 2009. At the conclusion of four and a half hours of testimony, he was found not-guilty on all charges.