What does speed limit mean??
While that might seem like a silly question someone asked recently so it might be something worthwhile to discuss.
“Speed limit” simply means this is the fastest speed you can travel under ideal conditions.
The next question might be “What are ideal conditions???”. Those would be a clear, sunny day with a dry road surface.
Very often during snow storms I stop people for under or a few mph over the posted limit and they are miffed as to why they are stopped. If you need a law enforcement officer to tell you to slow down during heavy snowfall, rain or fog and the roadway conditions are much less than ideal then you probably need a citation so you will. A large percentage of accidents occur during these times……….
Another issue I notice is that people stopped for speeding less than 10 mph over the posted limit often have a “What’s the problem” attitude. Most officers have a little tolerance before they start writing tickets but tolerance is a courtesy given by that individual officer. The guy on down the road doesn’t have to give tolerance at all. When passing through multiple states, municipalities, work zones etc. you should make a hobby out of actually noticing posted speed limit signs. If you make this a habit you will certainly have to worry less about getting a ticket. ESPECIALLY when passing through small towns habitual speeders like to call “speed traps”.
Very often, almost daily I stop people who I checked on radar long before they identified me as a patrol car then after they stomped the brake to drop to the speed limit they think that is the speed they should be given. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way……….
It is a proven fact that speeding, quite simply is a bad habit that causes a lot of accidents. Just as an experiment, try driving at the posted limit all of the time and note the little difference in time and the fuel savings. You might be surprised!!!!
Trooper Duane Johnson #280
Oklahoma Highway Patrol
