Can You Get A Speeding Ticket When There Was No Posted Speed Limit?
If you got a speeding ticket when there was no posted speed limit, you may think it was unfair. You could be right, but the ticket might still be valid under the law. Here are some scenarios to consider.
Missing Speed Limit Sign
There may be a road where the police know the usual speed limit but the speed limit sign was missing because of weather damage or vandalism. You could also pull onto a road from another road where there may not be a speed limit sign from the point where you turned on to the point where you were pulled over.
Most areas have laws that there must be a speed limit sign every so many feet. If there wasn't a sign as required by law, this could be a valid defense. To make your defense, you'll want to safely take a video of the road you got pulled over on showing there was no sign. This is especially important in case a sign was temporarily missing and government records would show that there is a sign in that location.
Default Speed Limits
Many areas have laws that there is a default speed limit for certain types of roads if there is no speed limit sign posted. These laws may be at the state or local level. All drivers are responsible for knowing these laws. Being from out of town is no defense.
If there is a missing speed limit sign, you can't receive a ticket for a speed limit lower than the default. For example, if you were doing 40 miles per hour in a residential neighborhood, the state default speed limit for residential roads was 30 miles per hour, and the neighborhood's 20 miles per hour speed limit sign had been stolen by vandals, you could beat a 20 over ticket since that sign was missing but would be guilty of 10 over if you didn't have another defense.
Unwritten Speed Limits
There may also be times when driving at even the speed is illegal. This is usually in poor weather such as rain, fog, and snow where visibility is reduced or the roads are wet and your ability to brake is reduced. The citation is for driving too fast for the current conditions, and it's based on the officer's judgment, so you may have more arguments to defend against it than a specific speed.
To learn more about how to fight a speeding ticket when there was no posted speed limit, contact a local traffic lawyer, such as Carl L. Britt, Jr., today.
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