THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, February 27, 1996             TAG: 9602270297
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: By Mark Morrison and David M. Poole
DATELINE: RICHMOND                           LENGTH: Short :   32 lines

SPEEDY JUSTICE: BEYER KEEPS QUIET WHEN HIS DRIVER IS STOPPED FOR SPEEDING.

Lt. Gov. Donald S. Beyer Jr. likes to tell the story of the nervous police officer who had just ticketed then-Gov. Mills Godwin for speeding:

``I guess I'll get fired now,'' the officer said.

``No, you would have gotten fired if you hadn't written me a ticket,'' Godwin replied.

Beyer, however, offered no similar declaration Saturday afternoon when his Volvo - with the ``1 Lt. Governor'' tags - was stopped for speeding on U.S. 360 in Chesterfield County.

The Democrat was not behind the wheel: He was in the passenger seat, catching up on some letters. His driver, Chris Elliott, acknowledged that two officers clocked him at 73 mph in a 55 zone.

After a brief discussion, the officers let Elliott go with a warning.

``I didn't say a word,'' Beyer commented Monday. ``I just let them do their job.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Lt. Gov. Beyer, whose driver didn't get a ticket for going 73 mph in

a 55 zone.

by CNB