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#11
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> Is there a wording for the law that's an improvement > on "reasonable and prudent" ? > Well there could be. How about "85th percentile speed of FREE FLOWING (ie no speed limit posted, and no visible enforcement activity) traffic". -Dave |
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#12
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> The guy who challenged the ticket was driving at an unreasonable > speed. He was also convicted of the similarly vague "reckless > driving" crime several times and went to jail for it. The courts > didn't overturn the reckless driving law because doing that would > impede punishment of unsafe drivers. But they could and did > decide they wanted to change how speeding tickets were handled. > The supreme court wanted speeding tickets. The Attorney General > wanted speeding tickets. Both knew if the state lost this case > the legislature would pass a law making everybody subject to speeding > tickets and the police and courts could forget about safety and > just process the paperwork. So they arranged to strike down the > law just before the biennial legislative session. > > -- Serious question . . . how did you determine that a skilled driver in a brand new sports car in the middle of nowhere in perfect driving conditions with NO TRAFFIC on the road was driving at an "unreasonable" speed of 85MPH? I'm frankly amazed that he never took his car out of second gear. (why was he going so damned slow???) -Dave |
#13
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In article ws.net>,
Ted B. > wrote: >Serious question . . . how did you determine that a skilled driver in a >brand new sports car in the middle of nowhere in perfect driving conditions >with NO TRAFFIC on the road was driving at an "unreasonable" speed of 85MPH? I checked the court decision and it looks like he only appealed the charge that looked more sympathetic, not the ticket for 100+ MPH in heavy winds. In the case considered by the Supreme Court, he was, in the words of the dissenting judge, "operating a vehicle at 85 miles per hour on a two-lane highway with frost heaves, steep hills, and curves, where farm vehicles may unexpectedly appear." -- John Carr ) |
#14
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"John F. Carr" > wrote in message ... > In article ws.net>, > Ted B. > wrote: >>Serious question . . . how did you determine that a skilled driver in a >>brand new sports car in the middle of nowhere in perfect driving >>conditions >>with NO TRAFFIC on the road was driving at an "unreasonable" speed of >>85MPH? > > I checked the court decision and it looks like he only appealed the > charge that looked more sympathetic, not the ticket for 100+ MPH > in heavy winds. In the case considered by the Supreme Court, he > was, in the words of the dissenting judge, "operating a vehicle > at 85 miles per hour on a two-lane highway with frost heaves, steep > hills, and curves, where farm vehicles may unexpectedly appear." Did you catch the part where even the cop who wrote the ticket testified FOR the defendant? I don't doubt some judge had a problem with the "85 miles per hour" part. That just goes to show that what is "reasonable" to most people isn't necessarily "reasonable" to any particular judge. I get the feeling that he got the 85MPH ticket only because he was all alone on the road with the cop who wrote the ticket. I've BEEN in that situation before. A couple of decades ago, I was driving a '76 Cutlass Cruiser (350 rocket, quadra-flusher, ha ha) through South Dakota in perfect driving conditions. The car itself was in perfect mechanical condition. I drove for hours without seeing another vehicle on a 4-lane (2 each way) divided highway. I honestly wasn't paying attention AT ALL to how fast I was going at any particular moment, I just knew my approximate average velocity, about 80. The car was comfortable cruising 75-80, sometimes a bit more. That seemed to be the "sweet spot" of that particular engine, so I just let it run. I wasn't in a hurry at all. I started to notice that I was ALL ALONE, and wondered how long I'd have to go before seeing a single other vehicle on the road. I know it had been at least a half hour before I'd seen another vehicle on EITHER SIDE of the highway. Then I noticed a vehicle WAY behind me (a couple of miles, as far as I could see). I noticed it, as it was (OHMYGOD) another vehicle!!! But I didn't give it much thought beyond that. I noticed he was gaining on me pretty quick. Unfortunately, I didn't notice the light bar soon enough. Not sure how I missed that. I got ticketed for 76 in a 65. I know without a doubt that I got the ticket as the cop literally had NOTHING better to do. While we were on the side of the highway for several minutes, not a single vehicle passed us in either direction. Though my speed at the time was unlawful, NOBODY could claim with a straight face that my speed was not reasonable and prudent. I'm lucky I wasn't in a hurry at the time. 80MPH (my average speed that day) was rather SLOW for that particular vehicle. -Dave |
#15
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How fast was the other car going to catch up to you? That 80 MPH is a
common speed for normal traffic conditions. I've been on similar roadways where traffic was passing me at twice that speed. |
#16
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"Alexander Rogge" > wrote in message news > How fast was the other car going to catch up to you? That 80 MPH is a > common speed for normal traffic conditions. I've been on similar roadways > where traffic was passing me at twice that speed. I'm guessing at least 110, as it didn't take long for him to close the gap at all. -Dave |
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