In rural America, it's the small things that matter -- the rustle of crops and the calm quiet of back roads. And yet now, the small things in Pahrump, Nevada are being shaken up.
In this slice of Americana, not everything is at it seems.
Michael Brunet's story may seem familiar. It was that day in May and his crime was going eight miles over the speed limit -- a charge he wanted to fight.
Brunet knew something about the signs in Pahrump. "They're all unenforceable," he said.
Tony Demeo, Sheriff of Nye County, confirms Brunet's belief. "They're done illegally. You can't just arbitrarily set up a speed limit without an engineering study," he said.
But that's exactly what happened. For the last three decades the town board said 25 miles per hour on dirt roads, 45 on paved roads, and it says so as you drive into town. But in the last 30 years, other signs have cropped up. "Whether it's says 15, 25, 35, 45. They are not enforceable," said Brunet.
No one is accepting the blame, but back then the county didn't do road studies to prove the speed limits were correct. "They're not legal speed limits," said Sheriff Demeo.
Demeo and other officials are now making amends eight months into a year-long study of every road in Pahrump. They're getting it right this time. "It puts us between a rock and a hard place," he said.
And as it does in small towns, word travels fast that change is coming, because it's the small things that matter. "I never was faced with anything like this in my 35 years of law enforcement," said Demeo.
Sheriff Demeo advises the District Attorney to dismiss most cases, like that Michael Brunet's. His was dropped, even though he was ready for a fight.
Both main thoroughfares through Pahrump, State Route 160 and 172, have legally set limits. They are state-controlled, meaning proper procedures were followed in setting those limits. Also, state law sets school zone speed limits. They too are enforceable and legal.
Police will still pull you over, so don't think you can get away with wild driving on Pahrump's surface streets. You just have to be going under 45, no matter what the sign says.
Where dirt meets pavement.
Photojournalist Alex Brauer getting a shot.
