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You did "some reading". What the heck were you reading that told you that the speed limit is a "recommendation"? Unless, of course, you read that it is the TOP speed that you can drive but you are free to drive lower if conditions indicate that you should.
The bolded above. Whenever it's pointed out that if you violate the law and get caught that it's your own fault, not the cop's, some folks find that whole personal responsibility thing so objectionable that apparently they can't even see that that's what they're being told and focus on how unfair the speed limit it and how they're being told not to speed and "you're not the boss of me!". You're not being told not to speed; you're being told that if you DO choose to speed, that the consequences are your own fault and not anybody else's, and anyone driving a motor vehicle on public roads should be adult enough to accept that and not whine about how "unfair" it is that there are consequences to your own actions.
Hi TexasHorseLady,
Once again as I said to a previous and gracious member, I could not Agree with you More and your very Valid points yet, if the OP Truly believed that School was in fact Officially Out and Over and that he actually believed that by going 27mph in a normal 35mph area that he was going in fact Slow then let's Face it, you would be Justifiably and Rightfully Venting if you were in his shoes as well, and I just Do Not Believe that the OP should be jumped on All over for what he Believed he was Doing Right!
I'm sorry, but I've had enough. I was driving in a "school zone" at 4:28 PM. I was going the speed of traffic, I was going on a major street in my city, there was no "pedestrians" around, and it was, I repeat, 4:28 PM. School was long, long over. But, ok, if the speed limit was 20 and I was going 45, then I would understand getting a ticket, but no, I was going 27 miles per hour at 4:28 PM with no pedestrians on a major road in my city when school was almost 1:30 hours out of session and I get slapped with a speed limit for speeding in a "school zone". From research, apparently, DURING SCHOOL HOURS, going at 26 is a ticket. So, I was one mph above that an hour and a half after school ended, going the speed of traffic. This all makes sense. While my city has one of the highest murder rates in the country, with gangs roaming the city untouched, I am slapped with a ticket for this.
Good job, police department. You "got" me!
The only argument you have is what constitutes school hours. You need to figure that out before contesting the ticket.
The lack of pedestrians and the flow of traffic is irrelevant.
Once again as I said to a previous and gracious member, I could not Agree with you More and your very Valid points yet, if the OP Truly believed that School was in fact Officially Out and Over and that he actually believed that by going 27mph in a normal 35mph area that he was going in fact Slow then let's Face it, you would be Justifiably and Rightfully Venting if you were in his shoes as well, and I just Do Not Believe that the OP should be jumped on All over for what he Believed he was Doing Right!
Kind Regards,
SD
So as long as you believe what you are doing is "right" its okay to break the law?
So as long as you believe what you are doing is "right" its okay to break the law?
No, Now you are Definitely taking Things and what I said Way Out of Context and this is The Prime reason why I Always Hesitate to join in On Forums.
What I said is, if you Believe you are doing the required Speed Limit or even Slower and you are pulled over by a Police Officer who informs you that through a certain time the Speed Limit is Lower Do Not Tell me that you are just going To Smile and say, OK, Thank you officer for my Ticket!
You are going to Be Rightfully Agitated and Vent and that is What the OP Did so Stop this HOLY Chastising as most of the people that Jumped All over Him I would Love to be A Fly On The Proverbial Wall when they Got One or Get One!
OP, I love how you've emphasized in 2 or 3 posts now that there were no pedestrians around when you were speeding through the school zone as if that should matter one iota. By that rationale, you should be excused for running a red light in the middle of the night if there is no cross traffic around.
No, Now you are Definitely taking Things and what I said Way Out of Context and this is The Prime reason why I Always Hesitate to join in On Forums.
What I said is, if you Believe you are doing the required Speed Limit or even Slower and you are pulled over by a Police Officer who informs you that through a certain time the Speed Limit is Lower Do Not Tell me that you are just going To Smile and say, OK, Thank you officer for my Ticket!
You are going to Be Rightfully Agitated and Vent and that is What the OP Did so Stop this HOLY Chastising as most of the people that Jumped All over Him I would Love to be A Fly On The Proverbial Wall when they Got One or Get One!
Kind Regards,
SD
Actually, I have been pulled over a few times over the 50 years I've been driving. Not once (really!) have I gotten angry at the officer for pulling me over. I've asked what I've done (because I'm pretty sure they're not doing it for their health and that I HAVE done something unintentionally, being human), and been polite and even friendly, and I suspect that has something to do with my getting warnings instead of tickets in most cases. I've even ended up chatting about horses when pulled over doing over the limit because I was excited because my first mare had just had her first foal for me and I was driving to get my daughter to take her out to the stables to see, and wasn't paying attention to my foot getting heavy. There were three things that cop could have ticketed me on, and he cut it down to a ticket on one and warnings on the others (an inspection sticker that had expired a couple of days before when I was on foal watch and didn't notice being one that I got a warning for).
Since I figure anything that I do behind the wheel is my own responsibility, and the police officer is doing me a favor by focusing my attention when I've lost focus on driving, yes, I HAVE been known to thank the officer.
And you can't get around the fact that if 27 is too fast to be able to read the sign that tells you when the lowered speed applies, then it's too fast to be driving through a school zone.
Well it looks like you know why you were being ticketed - going 7MPH over which is 35% over the speed limit BTW. When you enter school zone it's your responsibility to see what the school hours are and if you are going 27MPH "generally" checking that should not be a problem. Is it possible you were going faster where the sign was but slowed down where the camera was? of course no people or traffic around does not help your case.
I am surprised by the camera though - so is the camera set to take picture at 7MPH over the speed limit for that school time? I know two here in my neighborhood and they do not take any picture even if you are going 32MPH (in school time where limit is 20MPH) and I think that is very reasonable. I have seen camera taking pictures but it's clear they were going too fast.
The OP says it was a camera ticket, IIRC. The camera gives a 6 mph cusion, so he could go 6 mph faster than the limit. Then he says he was going 7 mph over the limit, which outside of school hours is 15 mph faster than the school limit. Someone says he didn't have enough notice about the speed zone. However, I sense that his going only 1 mph above the 6 mph cushion is evidence that he knew. He would have been going at 15 over the school limit, or even faster, if he really did not know. He got caught breaking the law. Pay up!
As far as whether the law is right or wrong, the judge isn't going to rule on that. If the OP thinks it's wrong then he should take that up with the legislature, or start a petition drive, or whatever other ways he can, to lobby for change in the law.
Isn't that what detectives are for? Or should the entire police department stop enforcing laws to watch out for one bad guy?
I feel bad that OP got a ticket, but that's the gamble we all take when that speedo needle passes the speed limit. It happens.
When I was younger, I took a stupid school zone ticket. I drove that road everyday, but always before school hours. That day, multiple factors came into play where I drove through the school zone during school zone time in a much higher performance car than my own. I even saw the cop and was glad he was sitting there enforcing the speed limit on this road. I looked down at the speedo and I was going over the limit. He pulled me right over and I received the summons. Why was it stupid? Because I was wrong (albeit unintentionally). I broke the law. End of story.
Detectives dont prevent shootings, they investigate them. Police patrolling high profile areas are what lowers shooting incidents, at least those in public places.
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