OT: Red Light Camera Ticket

[Robert Green]

[krw]

Most states are like this. OH is a little different in that it seems they enforce these. I remember such questions on their written exam, a few years back, too.

These are default state speed limits. Any deviation from the default have to be posted, in a standard manner. If it's posted...

Of course, jurisdictions differ.

Not knowing the law is does not buy a pass. Never say never. ;-)

[N8N]

Correct, none of them appear to be applicable however, unless you consider it to be the default 55 MPH given in =A7 46.2-870 which does not seem to be appropriate, or the 25 MPH given in =A7 46.2-874 for a "business district" - but it is not clear to a casual observer whether the area qualifies as a "business district" or not, and the road in question is four lanes, divided, etc. and even at about 6:30 PM (typically one of the times of day that experiences heaviest traffic) was lightly traveled, so 25 MPH doesn't seem appropriate either.

Most people seemed to be traveling about 40 MPHish which was an appropriate speed IMHO, but who knows what the actual speed limit on that road *is.*

This isn't unique either... there's another heavily traveled road around here where I happen to know that the speed limit is 45 MPH, but if you access it from a major highway and head west, there isn't a single speed limit sign for over a mile, at the intersection with another major highway. I'm surprised that the cops haven't set up a speed trap there, as without prior knowledge of the area, you have absolutely no idea what the speed limit is on that stretch of road.

nate

[Steve B]

I love the true story of Arlington, Texas. In about 1965 or thereabouts, someone came up with the idea of a speeding camera. They installed it in a

45 mph zone, and it took a picture of every car with license plate that was over the 45 mph limit.

Local bubbas would cruise by at 35 mph, shotguns in hand. After replacing the camera a few times, they abandoned the project.

Steve

[gpsman]

That's one of the differences between drivers and motorists; drivers are not casual observers.

One of the tasks of driving requires reading -every- traffic sign. A few years of that gives the driver a lot more data upon which to base a decision.

Couldn't be me... ... ...

False premise. Speed limits don't have much influence on the vast majority of motorists.

(If there's any traffic they tend to want to catch and/or pass the vehicle to their front, keep anyone from getting in front of them, make every light, and make a few phone calls to make best advantage of what they consider "down time". And that's about the extent of their strategy.)

At what point in NoVA (or the US) would you suggest cops would have difficulty coming across motorists exceeding the speed limit...? -----

- gpsman

[N8N]

I'm not sure where you're going with this. There *are* no signs, nor is it clear if any of the speed limits established by statute apply to this road - there are speed limits applied by default to roads that fit various different classifications, but there are plenty of roads that do not appear to fit *any* of them. What would you assume the speed limit to be on any of those roads, in the absence of signs?

This is actually true, but I'd prefer to know for sure what the speed limit is rather than just "going with the flow" and assuming that I won't be "caught."

None of them.

My point is that I would like to be informed as to what the speed limit *is* so that I can make more informed decisions.

nate