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You cannot exceed the speed limit on the basis of the speed of another vehicle, whether police or not. Just as "keeping up with the flow of traffic" will not get you off, neither will, "but I was following a police car".
People get ticketed for this all the time. Following ambulance/firetruck/police car. It's dangerous, as well as illegal. So many believe that they have a driver's license so they are a good driver, at any speed, and in any condition.
I'm well aware that following the police car wasn't legal justification for speeding. If I had gotten a ticket, I would have deserved it. It wouldn't have been my first, or my last. There was very light traffic on the road at that time or I would not have done it.
I got pulled over today for passing a car going slower then I was driving today. I passed them with broken lines on my side of the road. I did exceed the speed limit to do so it’s my understanding that this is legal, it would seem tha in N.C It’s not. She was doing 40 in a 45 when on coming traffic was clear I passed her using my blinker and proceeded to pass. When I did she accelerate. As did I. I was clocked doing 71 in a 45 and I admitted to that. The officer saw it differently no surprise there. So I do have to go to court come December on the 18th. He says that I should be able to talk to the judge and he might give let me take a driver safely course to get the points knocked down. Going 30 or more in N.C they can take your DL away from you.
IMO, THEY care more about giving tickets then you passing within the law then anything else.
71 in a 45? Yeah, I'd be ticked that she accelerated while I was trying to pass and if I was on the interstate I'd be strongly tempted to blow her doors off! But you essentially did that in a 45 mph zone - you should have backed off when she started going that much over the limit. I'd have to say you were clearly in the wrong - but not having a ticket in 15 years may get you off lightly. But don't think what you did was okay.
Damn some of you, do you all not read the entire post?
I read the entire post. He was wrong, and the officer was right. Yes, she sped up when he tried to pass. The responsible and reasonable thing to do in that case, unless your testosterone levels depend entirely on whether or not you get to pass a vehicle, is to back off and pull back over and wait for another opportunity. NEVER is it to exceed the speed limit to that extent - that is road rage controlling you, pure and simple, and it is the officer's responsibility to impose the predictable consequences of such actions for the safety of all of us.
And trying to justify it by saying he was "trying to get away from the other driver"? B.S. He could get away from the other driver by slowing down. No need to "slam on the brakes" to get back over, just let off the gas and slide back in. MUCH safer than the choice he did make.
I got pulled over today for passing a car going slower then I was driving today. I passed them with broken lines on my side of the road. I did exceed the speed limit to do so it’s my understanding that this is legal, it would seem tha in N.C It’s not. She was doing 40 in a 45 when on coming traffic was clear I passed her using my blinker and proceeded to pass. When I did she accelerate. As did I. I was clocked doing 71 in a 45 and I admitted to that. The officer saw it differently no surprise there. So I do have to go to court come December on the 18th. He says that I should be able to talk to the judge and he might give let me take a driver safely course to get the points knocked down. Going 30 or more in N.C they can take your DL away from you.
IMO, THEY care more about giving tickets then you passing within the law then anything else.
Speed limit signs state a maximum speed period. The only exception I could imagine is a dire emergency. Passing a vehicle is not a dire emergency. You didn't have to go 71 mph to pass a vehicle moving at 40 mph.
You obviously feel aggrieved by this. Frankly, I wonder why.
"Follow the rabbit." That's advice I always see on how to avoid getting a ticket when you're a habitual speeder (as I am). Don't be the fastest car on the road.
One fun experience I had was using a state trooper as my "rabbit" once. I was driving in the left lane of a highway, speeding as usual, when I saw a statie come racing up behind me in the left lane. I thought I was going to get pulled over, and I moved into the right lane, but instead of pulling me over, he went flying by.
He was clearly out the left lane, effectively, so I decided it would be cool to follow him at a discreet distance. I let him get a little bit ahead and then stepped up my speed to his speed and cruised at high speed behind him down the highway in the left lane. I wish I could do something like that every drive.
I always follow the rabbit as well, has kept me out of trouble. I also dont follow behind SUVs because I cant see in front of them when traffic is slowing down, and they might not be paying attention.
Ive seen too many videos of SUV drivers smashing into stopped traffic, and the person behind them has try to get out of the way to avoid being rear ended.
In the original situation, who was trying to control and block? The speed limit was 45. The driver was doing 40. Honestly, would the OP have done anything different if the driver was doing the full 45?
No he wouldnt.
But the person doing 40 and then speeding up as OP was trying to pass was definitely trying to control and block, which was wrong in every aspect.
I read the entire post. He was wrong, and the officer was right. Yes, she sped up when he tried to pass. The responsible and reasonable thing to do in that case, unless your testosterone levels depend entirely on whether or not you get to pass a vehicle, is to back off and pull back over and wait for another opportunity. NEVER is it to exceed the speed limit to that extent - that is road rage controlling you, pure and simple, and it is the officer's responsibility to impose the predictable consequences of such actions for the safety of all of us.
And trying to justify it by saying he was "trying to get away from the other driver"? B.S. He could get away from the other driver by slowing down. No need to "slam on the brakes" to get back over, just let off the gas and slide back in. MUCH safer than the choice he did make.
Uh, no... by slowing down and getting back over over, he still has to deal with a clearly dangerous and possibly belligerent driver while doing so AND still has a clearly dangerous and possibly belligerent driver right in front of him.
Unless you're clairvoyant or you were there to observe such relevant factors as road conditions, traffic conditions, visibility, respective capabilities of both cars, the behavior of the other driver, etc., you have no clue whether slowing down and sliding back in was the much safer choice or not.
I sympathize with the OP's situation -- although not with his (hers) feeling that the ticket was unjust.
I'm amazed at some of the replies here. We have plenty of 2 lane roads on my common trips with the occasional passing zone. Depending upon traffic coming the other way during the passing zones, getting stuck behind other drivers for 20 miles or so is not uncommon (and can be much more). When I have hundreds of miles to travel, I opt not to stay behind drivers going 5 MPH under the speed limit. It is their right to drive 5 MPH under, and it is my right to pass in legal passing zones. The driver I'm passing almost always speeds up. I do not believe that it is to "block" or be aggressive in most cases, but it is human nature to speed up to other cars trying to pass. I see this all the time on a multi-lane highway - I set the cruise control to a speed, easily catch up to a car, and then as I move over to pass, that car speeds up going the same speed or slightly faster than I was. I then move back over to the right behind the car and they immediately slow down. The average driver doesn't pay enough attention to speed, they just drive what their brain says they should based upon surroundings, and then speeds up when traffic around them does.
All that said, the math to pass "legally" doesn't usually work. In the OP's situation, if the front driver was driving 40 MPH (even if he/she didn't accelerate), and the OP chose to accelerate and then maintain a speed of 45 MPH, the math (assuming some common following distances) tells us it could be 2800 feet or so to complete the pass, and upwards of 35-40 seconds. That's not reasonable distance to pass in most cases. So people accelerate quickly in the passing zone, to get the pass done as quickly as possible (which some might argue is the safest way to do this). I do this, and almost always end up exceeding the speed limit, or often even exceed my desired speed (which is often 5-10% over the speed limit) for the pass.
The difference between me and the OP, is that I do this knowing that if I'm "clocked" during the moment of the pass, I am speeding and will have to face the legal consequences of doing so.
So, I feel for the OP, as I've done the same thing many times. Not sure if I've gotten to 71 in a 45, but I wouldn't be surprised if I've ever gotten to 70-75 in a 55 for a moment during a pass. The OP just has to understand that he(she) broke the law, and that there are ramifications to that. Hopefully a judge understands the situation and is lenient.
Stopped reading after the first 5 posts.Here is what you need to do (personal experience in a southern state). There is no way you can appear in court hundreds of miles away from hom in the middle of the week. +20 over speed limit in many jurisdictions is reckless driving and is a criminal offense. It's not just speeding. Hire a local lawyer. It'll cost you $600 or so. They will reduce the charge to "improper driving", if the judge agrees. You pay the court costs, couple of hundred $, and go on with your life. All other advice and admonitions you've gotten so far won't help you one bit.
So you stopped reading after 5 posts, but you know that all of the info the OP received in the next 40 or so posts won't help him.
I always follow the rabbit as well, has kept me out of trouble. I also dont follow behind SUVs because I cant see in front of them when traffic is slowing down, and they might not be paying attention.
Ive seen too many videos of SUV drivers smashing into stopped traffic, and the person behind them has try to get out of the way to avoid being rear ended.
I hate SUVs on the road. They're a menace. They block your view of what is happening further down the road.
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