Speed limits – many of them are arbitrarily set without an engineered speed study, and are un-enforceable as a result. This is very state specific.
If you get a ticket, print out your state’s laws on setting speed limits. Many of them have a maximum speed for different types of roads, and then require an engineered speed study for lower posted limits. If the posted limit was set without an engineered speed study, it may be unenforceable and you can argue this in court. Essentially, the agency posting the sign may have broken the law, and you broke their law, but only because they broke the higher law first.
Then go to your local road agency governing that stretch of road (city, county, state transportation dept, etc) and file a public records request for the engineered speed study on that road. They’ll have to respond in writing if they don’t have one.
Chances are they won’t have one. Take the law and their admission they don’t have one with you to court and show the judge that the speed limit is un-enforceable and that you were driving a reasonable and prudent speed, regardless of what was arbitrarily posted.
Source – I’m the engineer for the road dept that would do said speed studies, and we don’t do them because then we’d have to raise the speed limits and the politicians don’t want us to.
