Speeding ticket on non marked road?

Question

so i got a speeding ticket on a road that used to be 30mph. there is a construction crew that repaved the road and are now gone. in a 3 mile stretch it was 30pmh halfway and 40mph the other half. this construction crew nor the city installed the 30mph marker on the road only the 40mph, i was doing 40mph the whole way because there was no indication that i had to slow down to 30mph, when they stopped me i was told was doing 40 over 30 and i explained that the marker was not there, he said that it didn't matter that it was 30mph at that area, and said because there was no sign didn't mean it changed. i would think that you would need signage to figure out the speeds, in my mind you have a speed sign you do the speed, no sign would mean that the speed does not apply. anybody agree to this?

Answer 1

Yeah, what about the out of towner that drives through and has no idea what the speed is or used to be.  My suggestion is photograph where the speed sign used to be, and where the new one is.  Plead not guilty and hope the cop repeats that line in front of the judge about there being no sign.  I know the prosecutors in my state (CT) would throw that out.

Answer 2

I would think that you would have a good case in fighting this in court.

Answer 3

Dude, that is why we have courts! A cop is not a judge and a traffic cop is usually one of the worst cops on the department. Do you think that these guys choose to do that?

Anyway, his job is to give you the ticket, not to argue whether or not you deserve it.

I believe that you have a reasonable chance of beating this ticket, but you have to show up in court.

Answer 4

Go down to your local library and ask the lbrarian to show you the code for your state and look up what you were charged with and do some reading. Then you can plan your defense in an educated manner.

Answer 5

Your state will have a due care or basic speed law stipulating that when there is no speed limit sign the speed limit will be (x). Applies to stretches under construction, dirt roads, etc... In my state the law is 25mph

Answer 6

Actually, in cases of unmarked roads, the speed limit is 25 regardless of what the rest of the road might be.

Ignorance of a law is not an excuse for breaking a law.

Answer 7

I have no idea what state you are in, however, every state has a Maximum speed limit based on the type of road, and this information is part of your drivers' knowledge test when you are licensed.  Claiming ignorance of the law, is not a defense in Court.  Please read page 30 of this document:

http://www.odot.state.or.us/forms/dmv/37...

I just picked Oregon as an example, but you can go to your DMV manual to see what the laws are in your area.  We are expected to know the laws.  Sometimes that doesn't make sense, but it is the way it is.  Example, there is a law in Nevada called 'Misuse of a Bus Stop"  this means that if you are at a bus stop loitering, and do not get on the bus when it comes, you can get jail time or a fine.  Now who the h**l would know that.? But it's expected that we do.

Anyhow.  Hope this helps!