Speeding Tickets, after a speed change from 40 to 30 mph?

Question

I drive up and down the same stretch of road at least 10 x a week, the speed was ALWAYS 40mph (duel carriageway) coming into Bristol.

The council change the speed limit to 30mph (for NO reason apart from making MONEY) one side of this carriageway is the river and the other side is an industrial estate.

I was driving down this road at 3.28 am (thats what the ticket said) I was the only car on the road and the industrial estate was closed. And I got stopped by the police for doing 37mph in a 30.... NO I said it's 40 on this road,,,, they said that the limit had been dropped to 30 because of lots of accidents !!!!!!!

"What" I said , "I drive this stretch of road 10 x a week for the last 15 + years and I can't recall one accident"

They would not have any of it.... I fought it all the way and LOST as the street lights on the industrial side of the road are only 75 feet apart,,,, this is 'BULL c**p' the lights were put in to """High light""" the industrial estate nothing else.

Answer 1

I can empathize with you. Unfortunately there is nothing you are going to be able to do about it.

Answer 2

You should have told them you are Prime-Minister-in-Waiting - I'm sure that would have put a different light on it!

Joking aside (I am assuming you were driving along The Feeder?- which is normally a fast road during the day and quiet at night?), you are quite right they need to get their quota of fines in order to finance basic things that should be financed by Government.  You should have been a female, started to cry and hiked your skirt up a little - it may have worked.

Answer 3

I am not familiar with the area, but here in the US when something like that occurs it is often influenced by the number of accidents, car\pedestrian\bicyclist collisions and if there are fatalities in the above.

If there has been a heavy increase of residential density or traffic due to the types of businesses around there...

It does not matter if you are the sole driver on the road...the police are charged with 'public safety' so talk to a local councilman or equivalent of a transportation department.

Just ask them why the change was made, without name calling of the person on the other end of the phone.