Barron gets reckless-driving ticket
ANDALUSIA — A powerful member of the Alabama Legislature, Senate Rules Committee Chairman Lowell Barron, is accused of reckless driving after being pulled over in south Alabama last week.
The lawmaker from Fyffe has a court date in Covington County on Sept. 16 to respond to tickets for reckless driving and running a stop sign on July 27.
Barron said Monday he was driving fast because he was trying to get away from a motorcycle that had been tailing his car for more than 30 miles.
Barron said he was returning home alone from a family vacation in Destin, Fla., when he passed a motorcycle north of Baker, Fla., about 10 p.m. The motorcycle followed him, 10 to 15 feet from his bumper, for the next 30 miles along a rural, two-lane highway to Andalusia, he said.
Barron said he tried to wave off the motorcycle and tapped his brakes, to no avail. Each time he sped up, the motorcycle would speed up and stay on his bumper. Barron said he considered the rider's behavior to be threatening.
Barron said the motorcycle driver turned out to be a former law enforcement officer who was in plain clothes.
Andalusia Police Chief Wilbur Williams said Barron was driving almost 100 mph, and there were people who witnessed his driving.
