I am writing regarding a troubling announcement made by the Atlanta Motorsports Park on Jan. 16. In a press release, the park offered any person ticketed under the new “Super Speeder” law a free half day of access to the park — if and when it is built. All they have to do is bring in their speeding ticket.

This promotion is a loud wake up call to anybody in Dawsonville and Dawson County who believed the developer’s posturing about being a good neighbor. On the contrary, this park is attracting business by luring Georgia’s most reckless drivers into our community.

Anybody who has driven on Duck Thurmond Road realizes that it already requires caution. Once Georgia’s worst drivers begin using it regularly, it will likely become more dangerous and even deadly.

While the developers may defend their promotion as a way to provide a safe environment for people who cannot control themselves on our public roadways, the reality is that it rewards criminal behavior. We as a community would not tolerate adult video stores that offered free movies to anybody convicted of a sex crime. A promotion like that would rightly be condemned for encouraging criminal behavior. This offer is not different.

Chances are that many people reading this letter have known somebody killed in a car accident and do not appreciate this developer’s insensitive and reckless tactics. If this situation is any indication of how we as a community will be treated if the motorsports park is built, we will be an afterthought and collateral damage in the developer’s quest to make a quick buck.

Samuel W. Horner III

Dawsonville