school zone speed limits

[jksn75]

Unfortunately, you will have to pay the ticket unless a judge shows you empathy. It happens and many people have their tickets dismissed. I would go to court. You must maintain the 15 mph limit between the sign you see and the opposing sign you can't see. Hopefully, that makes sense. You aren't allowed to accelerate between crosswalks. What intersection was this? Maybe this is a "strange" set-up and the judge will dismiss

[schoolzonedriver]

No, that doesn't make sense. So you are supposed to maintain a 15 mph speed for how far or how long until you MIGHT come upon another crosswalk when in most cases there isn't one. If there are signs indicating where the school zone begins and ends then I would understand. How can the portable school zone speed limit signs mean one thing at one school and something different at another school? At a school with only one crosswalk, you go 15 mph from the first sign until you are past the crosswalk. At a school with two crosswalks, now you are supposed to go 15 mph from the first sign until you get past the last crosswalk, wherever that is? This happened in front of Richardson Elementary on Camino de la Tierra (between Ina and Orange Grove). There is another elementary school (Hendricks) at Camino de la Tierra and Orange Grove (a few blocks down). The same portable signs are posted at each school. Hendricks has one crosswalk, you can accelerate once you are past the crosswalk. Then you get to Richardson school and the same signs now mean something different? You can't accelerate until you get all the way past the school and the next crosswalk. Am I crazy or wrong or what? I just want to know what the right answer is and why!

[AndyAMG]

Happened to me i was only doing 24. It wasted my day in that nasty courthouse with felons and criminals. It was a one way conversation that was basically pay it, stop speeding. Don't speed in the construction areas either.

[VA-to-AZ]

Here's a link to the actual Arizona law 28-797 that governs school crossings:

28-797 - School crossings; civil penalty; assessment; definition

I'm not a lawyer and don't play one on TV, but here's how I interpret it:

- The 15 MPH zone is 300 ft. either side of the crosswalks, and that's where the signs go.
- It's legal to speed up between the crosswalks.
- If the OP was caught speeding between the crosswalks and ticketed, then it would have to be shown that this occurred while crossing one of the signs ahead of the crosswalk, not before.

I'm new to Arizona (moving to Vail next week!), so it was good to look this up.

Good luck!

[jksn75]

Yep, the law says between the signs. You are not allowed to speed up once you pass the crosswalk. You speed up when you hit the opposing sign for the other direction of travel. I have never seen a school that did not place the signs in the appropriate places. It is required by law and I doubt they would want to take the chance of a lawsuit if a child was injured. Schoolzonedriver may have a valid argument and should probably go to court. It wouldn't hurt to call or stop by the Pima Co. Sheriff's Office in that district and ask to speak with a Sgt. Take a map and ask him/her what the law specifically would be on that stretch of road. If the answer is in your favor, take the info to court.

[schoolzonedriver]

I think I know what you are saying. At a crosswalk, you reduce your speed when you get to the first sign that says 15mph then you go thru the crosswalk and can accelerate once you pass the sign that says 15mph for the traffic going in the other direction. In my situation, there were two crosswalks and two different sets of signs. One at each end of the school, maybe 800 ft apart. I was ticketed for going over 15 mph when I was half way between the two streets, between the two sets of signs. I was no where near a crooswalk. I went 15 between the signs, then accelerated for a while before he recorded my speed. I was not in a school crossing zone.

[schoolzonedriver]

Also, I did go to the Sheriffs office and spoke to a Sgt. She wouldn't even talk to me. She asked if I had gotten a ticket and when I said yes all she would tell me was to go do some research on-line. She said the officer would present his case to the judge and I could present my findings from my research and the judge would decide. She repeated this over and over in response to everything I said or asked.

[jksn75]

It sounds like you have a good shot at getting this dismissed in court. I would draw a diagram or blow up a map and show it to the judge. Print out the statute as well. Good luck!

[sickofIL]

I would have thought this would be pretty universal across the country. In Illinois they post a sign at the beginning and one at the end saying "End Of school Zone." Once you pass the first sign you stay at the reduced speed until the end. Although here they have permanent signs that state that the reduced speed limit is to be followed "during school days when children are present."
never thought this would be different anywhere.

It is very clear here. I never thought that it would be any different anywhere else.

[schoolzonedriver]

I don't think I've ever seen a sign that says "end of school zone". At least not in Tucson. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. You are "sickofIL"? Well, good luck in Tucson.