Sue

Say you're driving along down a 55MPH road. Coming into view is a 45MPH sign.

Do you slow down to 45MPH as soon as you can see the sign (and read it clearly)? Or, do you slow to 45MPH as soon you get TO the sign (ie drive past it)? What would the answer be in legal terms? What would a LEO say?

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Jinn

It's when you cross the plane in which the sign resides.

So if you're doing 55, you can do 55 until the nose of your car passes the sign..

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Carno

Just drive over the sign and keep doing 55

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TM875

Wait....you mean you're supposed to pay attention to those signs? They're not optional? Shit...

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shakran

Naw, they're just suggestions. Of course, if you don't heed the suggestion a cop might suggest you donate money to the county

shesus

My grandma got pulled over once because she didn't slow down to 45 when she went past the sign. There was a sign that said speed change ahead. When you see that sign, you should adjust your speed. Of course, who ever really goes the speed limit?

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shakran

they told her that she had to start slowing down at the reduced speed ahead sign? She got taken for a ride then.

maleficent

Years ago, if you were driving east from Illinois, the speed limit crossing the border in Ohio (on Route 80) dropped from 65 to 55... It was a wonderful money making opportunity forthe stateof Ohio... I know imade more than one contribution driving my brother home from college in the summer. The Ohio police would just wait and well - it was like shooting fish in a barrell.

Near Stratton Mountin in Vermont, there's a place where the speed limit drops from 50 to 35 -- the local cops also get their shooting gallery and issue tickets.

Soon as you pass the sign, the speed limit changes

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Psycho Dad

Years ago, a friend of mine got fined for not lowering his speed while aproaching the sign. If I recall (and this WAS many years ago) it was indicated he should be at the speed limit once he reached the sign. Of course I'd wager the same cop wouldn't see it the same way were one approaching a 65 mph sign from a 55 mph zone.

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shakran

The legal requirement is that you be going 55 when you pass the 55 mph sign. It doesn't say when you have to start slowing down for that. So as long as I'm not slamming on the brakes and almost causing a wreck by braking 3 feet away from the sign, I can slow down whenever I want, as long as I'm going the speedlimit when I pass the sign.

MooseMan3000

Well, yeah. Because a speed limit is just that. A limit. If you're traveling at 65 MPH and you're coming up to a sign that says 55 MPH, it's perfectly legal to slow down to 55 before you get there. If, however, you're in a 55 MPH zone, coming up to a 65 MPH sign, it's still not legal to go 60 in the meantime. Yes, it's stupid. But it's still the law.

BigBen

That's what happened to me...

I was doing 30 in a 30 zone, and everything was right with the world. The flow of traffic started to speed up to compensate for the increased limit 100m away. I was doing 40 when I passed the Limit 50 sign. Then I saw lights behind me.

"Driver's licence and registration." What was this then.
"Is there something wrong, Corporal?" I asked. Be polite, I reminded myself.
"Do you know how fast you were going back there?" He huffed.
"Um, yeah, I was doing 30, like the limit says."
"NO YOU WEREN'T! I CLOCKED YOU AT 40!" He just snapped. He was about an inch from sticking his head in the car. I looked at my buddy, and we just laughed.

"Okay, but if I was, then it is because I was following the flow of traffic. the speed changes right back there." I could still see the shiny metal on the back of the 50 limit sign.

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER! YOU WERE DOING 40!!!"
"You aren't really going to give me a ticket, are you?" I was losing my cool.
"Driver's licence and registration..."
"This fucking guy is giving me a ticket!" I tell my buddy.
"DRIVERSLICENCEANDREGISTRATION!" The wooden bullet screams.

So I handed them over, and he went back to the car, and he came back with the ticket.
"There is no way I am paying this." I state, matter-of-factly.
"We'll see about that."

And then I continued clearing out of the base, since I was posted. I left Manitoba the next day. Fucking prick.

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denim

I take it you didn't bother to pay the ticket, then.

Jinn

^^ Was it an MP or an civilian police officer? If it was an MP, I CERTAINLY understand.. they're (civilian officer)^2..

And yea.. I use the "when crossing the plane of the sign" law to my advantage. There's an offramp in my city where it goes from the 55 MPH highway to a 45 MPH highway... well -- there's no posted speed for the offramp, so I usually speed up to about 70 and then slow down so I'm doing 45 at the sign. It's roughly legal, as the law requires that I be doing a "reasonable and prudent" speed in absense of a limit sign.

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f6twister

Unless I'm reading this wrong, you were doing the posted 30 mph (I'm assuming that you didn't mean 30 km/h), the speed ahead increased to 50 so sped up in anticipation of the new speed. Just as the speed lowers at the sign, it also increases at the sign. If you could increase your speed to accomodate the next posted sign, I could just pick out the last 25 mph sign in the city and jump to the next posted speed a mile down the road. I agree with the cop.

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Jinn

I don't think he was arguing the incorrectness of the law in the case, moreso the lack of restraint (discretion) to pull someone over who accelerated 10 miles an hour extra in the flow of traffic when approaching a sign where that accelerated speed would be legal. Semantically, he was in the right -- but this is where an officer's discretion should kick in..

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5757

I lived near a main road that quickly moved from 55 to 45 then to 35. Nobody, and I mean N*o*b*o*d*y would slow down. The cops didn't bother pulling people over in that area, I'm pretty sure they gave up years ago. Luckily I've never been pulled over for not slowing down. I usally Never do. I would assume that as soon as you pass the sign your vehicle should be doing that speed.
Hopefully if I do get pulled over for not slowing down, it will be because I am truly unaware of the decrease in speed. Wow, those signs can be badly placed.

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BigBen

Yes, it was a Military Police member.

No, I never did pay the ticket.

No it wasn't miles per hour, it was kilometres per hour, and there is a difference. 50 kph is 30 mph, and 30 kph is (i dunno.) ~15?

So I was going slow, and sped up a tiny bit.

And finally, MPs haven't learned the whole "Discretion" thing. They are rule enforcers, and if you don't like it, make another rule.

I call them wooden bullets out of contempt, but in fact I would never want their job, not ever. Can you imagine going to your calls and knowing that everyone you deal with has combat training? That would put you on edge.

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Psycho Dad

Of course. But, if I recall, the cop held that he should have began the reduced speed at the moment he saw the sign, not simply before he reached it.

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analog

If i'm currently doing 55, it's because the speed limit is already 45. If the limit was 55, i'd be doing 65, maybe 70 (or more, if it was a highway).

*giggles profusely*

Maybe where you are, but in Florida- if you're not going at least 5 over, you get honked at. POLICE give you a dirty look, when they pass you, if you're not going 5 over. People who do "the limit" here are "really old", and are insanely reckless, worthless drivers. I don't care HOW LONG you've been driving- a lot of them are blind as fucking bats, their motor and reflex skills are for shit, and they can barely move their arms but they drive cars twice the size of mine.

The laws for driver license renewal are the absolute worst. You only have to renew every 6 or 8 years, and you can renew by mail, phone, or internet... which means you NEVER get re-examined for your driving ability, basic road rules, or even VISION TEST. I guarantee if you gave the same (or any) tests for a renewal as they do to get the license to begin with, at least 50 or 60% of the people over 55 here would lose their license. God, it makes me smile just thinking about it. Maybe then our public transportation system wouldn't be so horrible. I have nothing against them, but many of them are a flat-out danger on the road.