Speed Limit Rules, Traffic Direction, & Signs

• thePITman

  

  Exhibit A:
  
  
  What is the rule for speed limit(s) on a road? Here are some questions.
  

  • Is the road a single entity, or can each direction have different speed limits? For instance:
  • Are Road C and Road F both 55mph? Or is Road F still 35mph since the 55mph sign was not posted?
  • Road I has nothing posted, so I think by law it is 45mph. But once it gets through the intersection, is it 55mph like Road A?

  I drive these 2-lane roads just about every day, and it drives me nuts sometimes when someone is strolling along Road F at 35mph when, in my opinion, the road (as a whole) is 55mph. I have included all speed limit signs in the above sketch.
  
  So, what is the rule? Thanks!
• gerb131

  

  You fooled me with the last question, I will not be fooled again!
• thePITman

  

  gerb131;837262 wrote:You fooled me with the last question, I will not be fooled again!

  
  Haha. I honestly do not know the answer, so this is a serious question.
• Curly J

  

  I would say Road F is 35mph since the 55mph sign is not posted.
• gerb131

  

  So west bound and east bound have different speed limits? Confusing.
• thePITman

  

  And keep in mind these are 2-lane roads with some double-yellow and dashed yellow lines, so it's not like they are highways with medians/dividers in between them. That would be another interesting question - can Northbound/Southbound, matching highways have different speed limits on opposite sides of the median?
• Curly J

  

  There is a road that has different speed limits on different lanes right by my house. Just a 2 lane street, but the different location of the placement of the signs has the street 2 separate speed in some locations.
• Glory Days

  

  i have no idea what you are trying to explain. however every road has a speed limit in ohio of 55mph unless otherwise posted.
• sherm03

  

  Are the 35mph signs actual speed limit signs, or advisory speed limit signs?
  
  If they are advisory speed limit signs, then the actual speed limit on Road D would be 55 until a new actual speed limit sign is posted. And Road E would be whatever the previously posted speed limit was until you got to the 45mph speed limit sign.
• krambman

  

  I have no idea, so I would contact the municipality, township, or county that has control of these roads and ask them. Then ask them to post the proper speed limit signs in the proper locations if they need to.
• thePITman

  

  Thanks for all the comments. I've discussed this with many co-workers this morning, and here are some of the points brought up:

  • Law: If not posted, speed limit is 55mph. So, Road I would be 55mph. (Yay!)
  • A road CAN have different speed limits in opposite directions (co-worker lives in Medina on road that is 45 one way, 35 the other).
  • However, a good point was brought up - in the diagram above, as Road E turns into Road F, the driver leaves the city corporation limit. So, as soon as the driver crosses that point, the city has no jurisdiction. If that's the case, it is our belief that a new speed limit sign would need to be posted as soon as the driver leaves corporation limit. If no sign is posted, Road F would indeed be 55mph.

  What are everyone's thoughts on those points?
  
  sherm, all are normal speed limit signs. No precautionary/suggested speed limit signs.
• thePITman

  

  Here is a response I received from a friend who was a police officer:

  Yes, if a road is NOT marked it is 55, unless inside of a city, then it is broken down into types of roads (i.e. alleys inside of cities are rarely marked but they are not 55, rather 15) business districts and residential districts are also different.
  Roads can have different speeds by direction, This is because the type of area you are entering probably has a different speed need. These are usually very close together because generally the road in question should have the same speed needs on both sides. But an example might be some cities corporate lines are on one side of the road but not the other. Also you don't want people to have to be looking over their shoulders to figure out the speed zones, lol. So the speed zone your in should be clearly marked on your side of the road, regardless what the zone is on the other side of the road.
  I do not know if the 35mph on roads E and D, in the sketch, are actual speed zones or are they the yellow signs for suggested speeds for the curve in the sketch? Either way the yellow signs are NOT speed zones. They are just suggested speeds for the area, like a curve or intersection. If those are actual speed zones, because of entering a city, then they would be marked in white signs and would be at the entrance or exit of a city or other speed restrictive zone. If the sketch are actual speed zone signs then F would be 35. It would actually still be E, lol. It depends on where F is actually located but you can request the highway department conduct a survey on that stretch to see if the speed limit in that area is appropriate.
  I hope this helped.

• Heretic

  

  The proper answer to any question pertaining to traffic laws is: FUCK THA POLICE!!!
• Con_Alma

  In your direction you continue to follow the most recent posted speed sign until you reach another. The opposite side's posted speed has no relevance to what you should adhere to.
• Glory Days

  

  Heretic;837753 wrote:The proper answer to any question pertaining to traffic laws is: **** THA POLICE!!!

  
  and dont forget to have a camera running when you tell them that so you could send it to Ender.
• Jughead

  

  krambman;837460 wrote:I have no idea, so I would contact the municipality, township, or county that has control of these roads and ask them. Then ask them to post the proper speed limit signs in the proper locations if they need to.

  
  Or you could tell them to take down the bullshit signs (speed limit) and just leave the signs pertaining to stop signs or lights.
  
  BTW, the only proper speed is full blast!
• majorspark

  

  Con_Alma;837842 wrote:In your direction you continue to follow the most recent posted speed sign until you reach another. The opposite side's posted speed has no relevance to what you should adhere to.

  I got ticketed once accelerating out of the village of Bellville, Ohio. Once I "felt" by the lack of buildings surrounding me I was "out of town" and began accelerating to 55 the lights came on. I literally pulled over at the 55mph sign. If I remember correctly I was doing something like 45. The officer was one of those hard ass pricks. He told me it was 35 until I passed that sign. I was caught in the local speed trap. Cops love to hang out at the transition of speed limits. Its where the money is at. They do the same in my local village. You get used to it and know where the transitions are. Sometimes when you are on the road you get nailed if you are not paying attention.
  
  In Berlin Ohio the limit used to change from 55 to 25. My wife once had to go to court because she was doing 51 in a 25 when she crossed the sign. They have since changed it to 55 to 45 to 25.
• dlazz

  thePITman;837259 wrote:

  • Is the road a single entity, or can each direction have different speed limits? For instance:
  • Are Road C and Road F both 55mph? Or is Road F still 35mph since the 55mph sign was not posted?
  • Road I has nothing posted, so I think by law it is 45mph. But once it gets through the intersection, is it 55mph like Road A?

  I did my internship with a police department and the rules are as follows:
  If the roads are not posted, it is 55mph. However, that only applies in non-incorporated limits. If you're in city limits and it isn't posted, it is likely 25 or 35.
  
  In reference to your questions:.
  1. The road is NOT a single entity. One side may be 55mph and the other 35.
  2. See above. Road F is 35, Road C is 55.
  3. Road I is unable to determine since I have no idea if it is within city limits or not.
  
  That's another thing worth noting: You can be in the city limits on one side of the road, and not on the other. This is why you can have way different variations in speed limits depending on which side of the road you're on (55mph vs 35mph).
  
  I'm pretty sure that if there are X amount of houses on a road it qualifies as a residential neighborhood, thus a 35mph limit. (this is speculation, everything else is fact)
  
  Also worth noting: it's very likely that you can speed 7-10mph over the posted speed limit and get away with it. If cops pulled every Dick and Jane going 5mph over the limit, they'd be writing tickets all day.
  
  Other "fun facts":
  *If you ever see a cop in the turn-around/median on the highway and he's just sitting there, it's likely he's not doing anything at all. Not all cops have laser/radar equipment.
  *Most state troopers run laser. It is accurate to several thousand feet. Meaning, if you see a trooper on the highway, he likely already knows how fast you're going. There is not really any need to slam on your brakes. It also isn't worth contesting, as laser is a LASER. No, those license plate covers don't work. They can get a lock on any reflective surface (metal).
  *Radar detectors work (and are legal in Ohio), but are useless on the above since radar shoots waves all over the place and a laser is a precise, single beam.
  
  My two biggest gripes:
  
  1. When a trooper has someone pulled over on the road and everyone slows down to drive 65mph (or whatever posted speed limit) to drive around him. He's not going to drop what he's doing and pull someone else over. If your excuse is "it's for the officers safety" then you should've merged into the middle lane anyways. It's the law.
  
  2. When a trooper is clocking the opposite flow of traffic and everyone slows down to do 65mph. He's not going to risk his life, backing into your flow of traffic so he can track you down. Pull your head out of your ass.
• thePITman

  

  dlazz, as Road E turns into Road F, the driver passes the "Corp Limit" sing, leaving the city. Does it then go back up to 55mph if there is no sign posted? Or does the city's 35mph still hold true?
• Con_Alma

  dlazz;838661 wrote:...
  
  *If you ever see a cop in the turn-around/median on the highway and he's just sitting there, it's likely he's not doing anything at all. Not all cops have laser/radar equipment.
  *Most state troopers run laser. It is accurate to several thousand feet. Meaning, if you see a trooper on the highway, he likely already knows how fast you're going. There is not really any need to slam on your brakes. It also isn't worth contesting, as laser is a LASER. No, those license plate covers don't work. They can get a lock on any reflective surface (metal).
  *Radar detectors work (and are legal in Ohio), but are useless on the above since radar shoots waves all over the place and a laser is a precise, single beam.
  
  My two biggest gripes:
  
  1. When a trooper has someone pulled over on the road and everyone slows down to drive 65mph (or whatever posted speed limit) to drive around him. He's not going to drop what he's doing and pull someone else over. If your excuse is "it's for the officers safety" then you should've merged into the middle lane anyways. It's the law.
  
  2. When a trooper is clocking the opposite flow of traffic and everyone slows down to do 65mph. He's not going to risk his life, backing into your flow of traffic so he can track you down. Pull your head out of your ass.

  
  
  Why would anyone slow down for a State Trooper? I drive the same speed whether I see one or not. They don't change my speed at all.
• Heretic

  

  Glory Days;838250 wrote:and dont forget to have a camera running when you tell them that so you could send it to Ender.

  
  Good point. Although I might want to chop the video a bit so it winds up looking like I was a victim of brutality. If people can see the part where I profanely scream and then lunge at the cop, that kinda detracts from my side of the story.
• dlazz

  thePITman;838707 wrote:dlazz, as Road E turns into Road F, the driver passes the "Corp Limit" sing, leaving the city. Does it then go back up to 55mph if there is no sign posted? Or does the city's 35mph still hold true?

  
  The state law says that if it's unposted and you're not in city limits: it's 55mph.
  
  Is the corp. limit sign you speak of on the C/D side of the road, or the F/E?
• thePITman

  

  dlazz;838830 wrote:The state law says that if it's unposted and you're not in city limits: it's 55mph.
  
  Is the corp. limit sign you speak of on the C/D side of the road, or the F/E?

  
  As I drive into town going from Road C to Road D, I see the "Welcome to [City]" sign and 35mph sign.
  As I leave town going from Road E to Road F, I see the "Corp Limit" sign.
• dlazz

  If you see a corp limit sign from E to F, then you're still in city limits.