Speed limit

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vinceasneed

Active Member
This is a question I have always wondered. Are police officers required to give a grace limit on how fast you can go over the speed limit. I've heard police are to allow you to go about 7 mph over before they pull you over. But I have also heard that in some places, they will pull you over for going 1 mph over. I have never been pulled over for going 5 mph and in some cases even 9 mp over. Does anyone know?
 
I have heard similar things. Old-timers used to tell me that if you stay under 5 miles above the speed limit, you won't get pulled over. Secondary highways here are 55 mph, so 59 would keep you from getting pulled over. I have been pulled over for less than 10, so I wouldn't push it too much. I think it is really more up to if the officer knows who you are, if you are doing anything suspicious (like swerving), to whether you will get stopped.
 
There was recently an article in the NZ Herald about speed limits. It was suggested that there be a 3km/h tolerance over the speed limit, which is usually given, but the police came back and replied that a fine can be issued at 1km/h over the limit. The speed limit IS THE LEGAL LIMIT. While many cops can and do overlook miner speeding infractions, they certainly don't have to.
 
I've had policemen tell me to travel with the flow or crowd and you'll usually be alright. They say when your faster than the flow, you will just about get pulled over every time. But I'm mostly behind the flow.
 
Reading each of these comments made me think,what if my speedo wasn't working and i tell the cop so,that i didn't know what speed i was going at.:P
Would he still charge me..?
I haven't tried doing so.
 
bala said:
Reading each of these comments made me think,what if my speedo wasn't working and i tell the cop so,that i didn't know what speed i was going at.:P
Would he still charge me..?
I haven't tried doing so.
Click to expand...

yes because its your responsibility to keep your vehicle in road condition. If you tell the cop that your speedo isnt working theres a chance they may deem it unfit for the road and you will need to have it towed to a mechanic for repairs, at your expense of course. I've heard about this on reddit (truth to be taken with a grain of salt) that someone used this excuse when their car was fine. Cop still had the car towed just to be on the safe side.
 
It's usually fine to be a little over as long as you are traveling within the flow of traffic. If you are impeding the flow of traffic or going faster than the flow of traffic, that is when your driving becomes potentially dangerous to others. I usually try to stay within the five mile mark. Around here people think it's the Indy 500, but they are also complaining about how often they get pulled over too.
 
I suspect this varies from place to place, perhaps even county to county within states unless there is a written traffic law.

When I was in Portland the general flow of traffic was always 60 or more on the freeway, even though it says 55. The "fast lane" meaning the left lane, was basically the 70-75 lane. I don't know what the ticketing rate was for those who frequent the fast lane, but I know people would speed like that all the time.

At the same time, there are some known areas where cops like to hide and catch people. I really think it is up to the discretion of the cops in the area at that time how much they are going to let people get away with.
 
I don't know the speed in imperial measurement, but I know it in metric, for Romania, at the least. If I recall correctly, it's 10 kilometers per hour above the imposed speed limit.
 
I doubt its a requirement and, as other people have said as well, I would expect it is merely up to each officer to decide if they're going after you or not. The speed limits are pretty fair in my opinion so I don't push the limits very far, if at all so I've never had any issue. Definitely want to keep things that way.
 
Interesting. Where I come from, some people say you can go up to 10 or 20 km/h higher than the prescribed 100km/h if the road conditions allow it, since it's the way most cars drive anyway. Now I live in Germany, and the fact that speed limits are not everywhere makes it easier to respect them when they come because a lot of the time, you expect that they are there for a valid reason. Also, if you just go with the flow, and the people in front of you get flashed, then you know about tickets and you can be smart and slow down.

I heard that some road enthusiasts and bikers in the States protested speed tickets in court because they argued that they were clearly just a money making tool, as there was no way that the speed limit could be justified to be X on a straight highway as even from x+20 it would still be perfectly safe and fluid etc. I've not heard much about them in the last few years though.
 
It is up to the police officers descretion. If the speed limit is 50 mph, but there is adverse weather conditions making it unsafe to travel at 50mph, a police officer can give you a ticket for reckless driving. On the other hand if you have a reason to break the speed limit, he can let you go. It depends.
 
vinceasneed said:
This is a question I have always wondered. Are police officers required to give a grace limit on how fast you can go over the speed limit. I've heard police are to allow you to go about 7 mph over before they pull you over. But I have also heard that in some places, they will pull you over for going 1 mph over. I have never been pulled over for going 5 mph and in some cases even 9 mp over. Does anyone know?
Click to expand...
I have heard about this somewhere on the former show called "Speeders". Some cops would say that they would pull you over if you go 15mph over the speed limit. Other cops would pull you over for going 20mph over the speed limit.
 
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