# Can you get ticketed for going 1 mph over the speed limit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 10, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754 "2002-12-10T13:25:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/21 "2002-12-10T17:54:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by deathawk \* > \*\*Meant to add this: In MD a few years ago they did have some “zero tolerance” campaigns where they did ticket anyone clocked over the limit. None of these tickets were thrown out as far as I am aware. If any were, it would have only been because someone brought spedometer calibration results with them to indicate that it could have been an error resulting from that, not the radar. > > Speeding is Speeding, no matter how much over you are. \*\* Yeah, but the above wasn’t law enforcement, it was politics. One mile hour over would likely (a) get you out of the ticket, and (b) get the cop a talking-to for wasting the court’s time. Unless, of course, some silly zero-tolerance campaign is in progress, in which case all bets are off. Man, is there a more wonderful phrase than “zero tolerance”? Definitely in everybody’s best interest! ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/22 "2002-12-10T17:56:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*AFAIK, speedo calibration is the responsibility of the car driver - so incorrect calibration iss no excuse in court. One would assume that cop cars have correctly calibrated cars, so, as **Petit Pois** says, 10% leeway WRT _their_ speedo is given. \*\* The calibration tolerance in question is that of the radar gun, not the speedometer. However, if speeding really were enforced at the 1-mile-per-over level, it might well be an excuse, since I’d guess the average car’s speedometer is off by at least 1 mph, dependant on speed. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/23 "2002-12-10T18:06:40Z")
> [@](#): > > What the federal government did… was declare, in 1974, a National Pretend Speed Limit of 55. This has been strictly observed everywhere except on the actual roads, where the real speed limit–the one actually enforced by the police–is a secret, unposted number ranging between 63 and 78, unless an individual police officer does not care for the way you look, in which case the speed limit is zero. – Dave Barry So, yes, you can get a ticket for one MPH over the limit. Doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. Not long ago, while driving to the law school to take a final exam, I noticed something that really pissed me off: cops were hanging out in the bus stops on campus, running radar. I can’t believe that they were such pricks that they would take advantage of the fact that students would probably be speeding if they were running late for an exam, so that they could write tickets and delay them even further. That’s about five kinds of mean. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/24 "2002-12-10T18:12:12Z")
California Vehicle Code: 1. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property. 2. (a) Except as provided in Section 22356, no person may drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than 65 miles per hour. 3. (a) [The Department of Transportation and California Highway Patrol may raise the speed limit to 70 MPH on certain highways and shall cause appropriate signs to be erected giving notice thereof.] (b) No person shall drive a vehicle upon that highway at a speed greater than 70 miles per hour, as posted. When these laws went into effect, raising the 55 MPH limit, the CHP implemented a temporary “zero tolerance” policy and issued tickets to drivers going 66 MPH. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Conceivable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/25 "2002-12-10T18:39:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bordelond \* > \*\ ***SenorBeef** , my father was once actually pulled over and ticketed for going 61 mph in a 60 mph zone. It can happen. \*\* My father told me the same thing happened to him. Of course he told me that when I was 15 and he was teaching me how to drive. He later confessed that it never happened. 😉 Not saying that it didn’t happen to your father. But, I have never actually seen a ticket for 1 mile over. Can’t a difference of 1 mile an hour be accounted for by having the wrong amount of air in your tires? ---
**Author:** ![badmana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@badmana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badmana)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/26 "2002-12-10T19:15:32Z")
According to speedometer error allowance by the manufacture you could easily fight a +/-3 kph (about 1.5 mph) ticket. Car speedometers are not designed by the car company to be absolutely accurate. 1-3 percent off is nothing special. [car and driver](http://www.caranddriver.com/xp/Caranddriver/features/2002/april/200204_feature_speedometer.xml?keywords=speedometer) [and same site, different article](http://www.caranddriver.com/xp/Caranddriver/features/2002/april/200204_feature_speedometer_tables.xml?keywords=speedometer) One other point. When changing tires you will also affect your speedometer reading. There are too many variations to account for, so I doubt many cops will actually ticket someone for 1-3 mph over. Most judges wouldn’t bother and would probably get annoyed at the police officer. I have received a 145 over a 100 zone (about 90 over 60) that was shot down to less than 129 ($350 ticket down to $100) so I’d love do see what would happen with a 1 kph over ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Eberfinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbce88/32.png) [@Eberfinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eberfinn)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/27 "2002-12-10T19:16:48Z")
Here in Florida there is a law on the books that you cannot be ticketed for going 1-5 mph over the speed limit. This is due to the fact that in the small town of Waldo the local police was supporting the town finances by ticketing people for going over the speed limit by just a few miles per hour. You can recieve a warning and after three warnings you can then be ticketed. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/28 "2002-12-10T19:43:00Z")
I’m sure I read somewhere that some vehicle manufacturers make their speedos so that when they read 50mph (for example) the car is actually doing 49mph. Anyone else hear of this? ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/29 "2002-12-10T19:48:35Z")
I was pulled over by a cop who had me driving at 43mph in a 30mph zone with his radar gun. Apart from taking my name and address I was allowed to proceed. I was told it was only because I was below the 45mph speed limit for learner drivers in the UK. Disclaimer: Speeding is never right kids, but it was at the edge of a small town with a very wide straight stretch of road so I doubt any harm would have come of it. I always slow down in suburbia and the town centres. Dangerous not to if nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/30 "2002-12-10T20:31:45Z")
Several years ago, I got a ticket in Kenmore, New York for driving 33 MPH on a street where the posted speed limit was 30. The judge wouldn’t hear of dismissing the case for a _de minimus_ infraction; other defendants in the courtroom were cited for driving 2 MPH over. Buffalo’s suburbs are notorious for draconian traffic enforcement, and the area has a national reputation for slow drivers. Residents are terrified to drive above the speed limit, especially on expressways; sweeps are conducted several times a month, and seeing 15 or 20 police cars lined up on the shoulder waiting to chase speeders clocked a few hundred meters away. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/31 "2002-12-10T23:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samarm \* > \*\*I’m sure I read somewhere that some vehicle manufacturers make their speedos so that when they read 50mph (for example) the car is actually doing 49mph. > > Anyone else hear of this? \*\* Certainly isn’t the case in my car; on UK motorways, the emergency telephones are exactly a mile apart; driving at exactly 60mph (really difficult to do unless it’s a flat stretch), it takes me _exactly_ 60 seconds to get from one to the next (improving the accuracy of the test by measuring the total time taken to pass 5 of them). ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/32 "2002-12-10T23:27:36Z")
" 22350. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property." Yep, that’s basically what a speed limit is. You can’t drive faster than is safe for conditions. If its safe to do 26 in a 25 zone, well? ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/33 "2002-12-11T00:34:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zuma \* > \*\*Come on… no cop is going to pull you over for going 2 mph over the limit. Not gonna happen. \*\* Police in some nicer suburbs outside Orlando (Windimere, Bay Hill) are notorious for giving tickets to people going 32mph in a 30mph zone. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/34 "2002-12-11T02:06:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by chriszarate \* > \*\*By the by, here in the U.S. at least, you can get a speeding ticket while driving _under_ the posted limit. If the officer considers your speed to be unsafe under the current conditions (rain, snow, etc.), then he/she can ticket you. The speed limit is the maximum allowable under optimum conditions, so be careful not to take it for granted. \*\* Is it arbitrary? I mean, if a few snowflakes are falling, can he ticket you for going 40 in a 40 if he deems it unsafe? Or is there some sort of objectivity built in? ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/35 "2002-12-11T02:26:15Z")
I had a friend in college who was ticketed for 1 mph over, doing 36 mph in a 35 mph zone (the local cops had a habit of clocking students on the road coming out of the university’s parking lot). He fought the ticket and got it dismissed because he found the legal allowable tolerance for a speedometer and that 1 mph was within the tolerance. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/36 "2002-12-11T04:24:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spoke- \* > \*\*Sort of correct. > > In Georgia, county and municipal cops can’t use RADAR to give you a ticket unless you are going at least 10 miles over the posted speed limit. They could, however, pace you to give you a ticket for going less than 10 mph over the limit. (That is, follow behind you to match your speed.) > > The State Patrol can do pretty much whatever they want, including giving you a ticket for going 1 mph over the speed limit. > > \*\* I’d also heard that in Geargia the cop with the radar had to be visible for a certain number of feet - 500, I think. Can anyone confirm or correct that? I got a ticket for 9mph over in GA, but it was a state cop (79 in a 70). ---
**Author:** ![dqa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dqa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dqa)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/37 "2002-12-11T04:36:40Z")
I addressed this question in an old thread: [Car color and tickets??](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=104568) In the late 90’s a study was done of two months worth of tickets written by state troopers in New Jersey. Of the 10 tickets that were written for drivers going 56mph, 8 were written by a single officer. ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/38 "2002-12-11T06:13:04Z")
Marylander here. I remember the even one mph over is speeding deal. It is for real but only lasted for a short time. The man around here will usually not even look at one doing 10 mph over - there are so many doing far greater and more stupid things. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/39 "2002-12-11T07:30:48Z")
I’ve been driving the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Route 81 for quite some time, and I’ve found that even 10 miles over the limit generally won’t catch the attention of stateys, because they could care less if you are doing 75 in 65. They would rather pull over the dude doing 85 or 90. ---
**Author:** ![mrcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@mrcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrcrow)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2002, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754/40 "2002-12-11T11:23:50Z")
the problem in the uk is that when you get a speeding ticket you also get 3 points on your licence 10 and you can lose it. paying up £60 is the least of the problem also just for interest most of the speed cameras are empty of film for a lot of the time because it costs a lot to fill er up they do an actual dummy camera with flashing lights only the red light camera is always kept filled…🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-get-ticketed-for-going-1-mph-over-the-speed-limit/141754.md?page=3)