On my recent vacation in a rather rural area, I ran accross a conundrum that non of my friends could agree upon.
Here’s the situation. Your traveling down the road, the speed limit is 55mph, and your about to enter a small town. There are signs saying ‘Reduced Speed Ahead’ and sure enough, 100ft later, the speed drops to 45mph. Then it drops to 35mph in the same fashion a half mile later.
Now, we all know that you should be slowing down when you see the signs saying ‘Reduced Speed Ahead’ so your traveling at the posted limit by the time you hit the sign.
My question has to do with traveling out of this town. They don’t, or didn’t, have signs that say/said ‘Increased Speed Ahead’. Instead they simply had a 35mph sign soon followed by a 45mph sign, and soon followed by a 55mph sign. Now then, when I see the 45, 55, sign, can I start accelerating so that I’m at the posted speed when I get to the sign or do I need to wait? Could a cop sit between this speed change and give me a ticket for accerating up to the next posted limit? How? Why? Shouldn’t it work the same way as it does when coming into town? How far ahead of the speed increase sign can I start to accelerate?
Your asking a question that I have wondered in the past, at what point does a speed posted on a speed limit sign become the new speed limit?
If I got pulled over by a cop for going 50 in a 35 and I was 50 feet from the 50MPH sign I would take a digital pic of him giving me the ticket and expect to get off.
On the other hand, I have SEEN changing speed limit signs within viewing distance of each other.
IMO, if you can read the number, you should be allowed to be accelerating up to that speed. Or, if it’s a decreased speed, you should be slowing down to that speed when you can read its number.
I think Dave Feldman covered this in one of his Imponderables books. The answer is: speed zones begin exactly where the sign is placed. Although IMO the cop would have to be a pretty big asshole to ticket you for going 40mph in a 35 zone if you’re within sight of a sign that says 45.
I have heard officers state in an un-official way that the speed limit takes effect beginning at the point where you pass the sign. Until you pass that sign, the previous sign is still in full effect. This is what I have heard in Texas, anyhow.
Simple. The new speed limit is in effect when you cross the plane of the speed limit sign. This works both when entering or leaving a reduced speed zone.
This is in the national “model traffic ordinance”, so it should be the same in every state.
Most cops I know, however, don’t write speeding tickets in what is called the “transition zone” from one speed limit to another. Some do, of course, so I wouldn’t take the chance.
I once faced a conundrum as I was driving out of a small town in South Carolina. The speed limit was 25 in town. Then there was a “Speed Limit 35” sign and I accelerated to 35. The next sign said “Speed Limit 55; Minimum 40.”
Knowing that the speed limit takes effect right where the sign is placed, I saw there was no way to legally drive past both signs!
One of the driving instructors at my high school would trick students with this. When the next speed limit sign was in view, and was higher than the current speed limit, he’d ask the driver what the speed limit was. Of course, the student would see the sign and give the wrong answer.
I got a ticket a few years ago under just these circumstances. I didn’t fight the ticket, since there have been plenty of times I didn’t get busted for speeding, and I figure it evens out.
