A Speeding Question

[Batman]

This was a new one for me, and I can't seem to find much definitive information through Google searches, so perhaps the SJ illuminati can shed some light (with the caveat that this might vary from state to state, of course).

A few days ago I got a ticket for going 57 in a 45 -- while I was in sight of the 55 mph sign. The area I was clocked in is about a quarter-mile stretch of 45 mph zone, which I was exiting. The cop was coming down the other side of the road and, I guess, clocked me, made a U-Turn and ran me down.
Now, I'd always heard that there's a buffer zone on either side of the sign, maybe a couple of hundred feet or yards, where you're fine. Is that true, or does the speed limit start at the sign and that's that?

If I'd have been busted in a traditional speed trap, where I was coming out of the higher zone and into the lower, it would suck but I could accept it. Getting a ticket when you're accelerating into the higher zone from the lower and you can literally see the sign seems ridiculous, and I'm thinking of fighting the ticket. Just wondering if I have a case or if I'd get to court and the judge would tell me tough titty, pay the damn fine.

 

[WhiskeyRiver]

I was instructed in Driver's Ed, a hundred years ago, that the sign was more or less like the goal line in football -- if you haven't crossed the plane, you're not in the zone. In other words, if you're doing 46 an inch before you've passed the 55 sign, you're speeding.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

This was a new one for me, and I can't seem to find much definitive information through Google searches, so perhaps the SJ illuminati can shed some light (with the caveat that this might vary from state to state, of course).

A few days ago I got a ticket for going 57 in a 45 -- while I was in sight of the 55 mph sign. The area I was clocked in is about a quarter-mile stretch of 45 mph zone, which I was exiting. The cop was coming down the other side of the road and, I guess, clocked me, made a U-Turn and ran me down.
Now, I'd always heard that there's a buffer zone on either side of the sign, maybe a couple of hundred feet or yards, where you're fine. Is that true, or does the speed limit start at the sign and that's that?

If I'd have been busted in a traditional speed trap, where I was coming out of the higher zone and into the lower, it would suck but I could accept it. Getting a ticket when you're accelerating into the higher zone from the lower and you can literally see the sign seems ridiculous, and I'm thinking of fighting the ticket. Just wondering if I have a case or if I'd get to court and the judge would tell me tough titty, pay the damn fine.

That's always going to depend on the judge. If you have the time you should go to court and give it a shot.

 

[Vombatus]

I agree. Go to court and take your chances. I've sat in Maryland traffic courts and heard judges give leeway in situations like this. Plus, you might get lucky and the officer not show up, and your case gets dismissed.

 

[spikechiquet]

Always...ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS fight a traffic ticket.
And when you go the first time and they try to downgrade it on the spot, they just want your money...don't do it! Fight it! Always worth it.
Cops hand out tickets like Tic-Tacs. They just assume you will be too busy or scared to fight it. It's practically free money for the county, don't hand them free moola.
*Yes, I hate cops.

 

[BTExpress]

Always...ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS Sometimes...SOMTIMES SOMETIMES SOMETIMES fight a traffic ticket.

Fixed.

Wife got a ticket while we were vacationing in Florida, en route home. Was not about to travel 735 miles to have our day in court.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Always...ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS Sometimes...SOMTIMES SOMETIMES SOMETIMES USUALLY, USUALLY, USUALLY fight a traffic ticket.

Fixed.

Wife got a ticket while we were vacationing in Florida, en route home. Was not about to travel 735 miles to have our day in court.

There are some exceptions, of course. Otherwise, fight it. I've even had cops tell me during the stop to plead not guilty and go to court, just to get the reduction.

 

[LongTimeListener]

In this case, if you were a quarter-mile away, what would happen if you drove until you were past the sign? To use the prior analogy, what if you cross the goal line? You're only talking about another 15-20 seconds.

 

[Tarheel316]

I don't know if this still holds true but in South Carolina I remember that if you see for instance a 55 mph sign, the speed limit is 55 beginning with the exact location of the sign, or post to post as one of my law enforcement friends put it.

In North Carolina, you supposedly have 10 feet to slow down once you encounter a lower speed limit sign.

As far as fighting tickets, I'd say yes. I've had two tickets in the last three years, 70 in a 55 and an unsafe pass. Got a lawyer both times and a plea of improper equipment was successfully entered both times. Still had to pay to fine. Lawyer cost $100. But no driver's license points and the real biggee was no insurance points.

 

[X-Hack]

In my state (Mass.), pretty much every traffic ticket from out of state - speeding or otherwise - will result in points on your license and higher insurance. So economically it's worth it to hire a local lawyer who deals with traffic tickets to show up and plead it down to faulty equipment or something similar. The reduced fine and the attorney fee is still cheaper than paying higher insurance rates. Had to do this twice - once for a speed trap outside of Boone NC and once for a bull**** ticket on the Garden State Parkway (I drifted a foot into the lane next to me and back without signaling). In the latter case the cop even wrote me up for something ticky tack that wouldn't result in points in NJ, trying to cut me a break, not realizing that it wouldn't help me because it would give me points in Mass.

 

[expendable]

In my state (Mass.), pretty much every traffic ticket from out of state - speeding or otherwise - will result in points on your license and higher insurance. So economically it's worth it to hire a local lawyer who deals with traffic tickets to show up and plead it down to faulty equipment or something similar. The reduced fine and the attorney fee is still cheaper than paying higher insurance rates. Had to do this twice - once for a speed trap outside of Boone NC and once for a bull**** ticket on the Garden State Parkway (I drifted a foot into the lane next to me and back without signaling). In the latter case the cop even wrote me up for something ticky tack that wouldn't result in points in NJ, trying to cut me a break, not realizing that it wouldn't help me because it would give me points in Mass.

No lie. The lawyer most people get for traffic tickets in Boone is named Tom Speed.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I don't know if this still holds true but in South Carolina I remember that if you see for instance a 55 mph sign, the speed limit is 55 beginning with the exact location of the sign, or post to post as one of my law enforcement friends put it.

In North Carolina, you supposedly have 10 feet to slow down once you encounter a lower speed limit sign.

As far as fighting tickets, I'd say yes. I've had two tickets in the last three years, 70 in a 55 and an unsafe pass. Got a lawyer both times and a plea of improper equipment was successfully entered both times. Still had to pay to fine. Lawyer cost $100. But no driver's license points and the real biggee was no insurance points.

10 feet? Going from a 60 mph zone to a 50 mph zone, that 10 feet probably buys you about .00001 seconds.

 

[da man]

That was a speeding question? It didn't seem that fast to me.

 

[Batman]

In this case, if you were a quarter-mile away, what would happen if you drove until you were past the sign? To use the prior analogy, what if you cross the goal line? You're only talking about another 15-20 seconds.

Well, I did keep driving. It was a stretch of four-lane road. Typical business zoning through part of town where it's all 45 and I was following the limit. There's a traffic light, and after that the businesses quickly thin out. A quarter-mile up the road it goes to 55. I was in that quarter-mile just before it hits 55, passed the light and had sped up to 55 since I knew it switches pretty quickly.
The cop was coming down the other side of the road, must have clocked me on the run, and turned around in a crossover less than 100 yards from the 55 mph sign. I passed him, glanced to the right and saw the sign, and then looked in the rearview to see him cutting his lights on. He caught up to me about a mile up the road.
The sticking point in this is that I WAS going 57 and my state has an absolute limit when it comes to the letter of the law. Even if I fight it and win on the merits of the signage issue, they might make me pay up anyway since I still was over the 55 mph limit.