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Advice: Traf Surv recommends 15% of Avg Speed!
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Subject: Advice: Traf Surv recommends 15% of Avg Speed!
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From: armstron@haas.berkeley.edu (Tom Armstrong)
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Date: 14 Nov 1995 23:27:42 GMT
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Newsgroups: ca.driving
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Organization: Haas School of Business, UCB
I'm fighting a radar ticket in a 25mph zone. The traffic survey indicates
that the 85% percentile is 38mph, and 82% of the drivers are between 28mph
and 38mph. Basically, 25mph is the 15th percentile; therefore 85% of the
drivers are in violation of the law. Yet the survey recommends a 25mph
speed limit, due to "a high accident rate." Apparently the vehicle code says
the traffic survey can recommend a lower speed than the 85th percentile if
there is a mitigating circumstance.
Some other facts: traffic on this street is the highest in the town (kind of
correlates to the accident rate, no?); the survey did not indicate causes
of the accidents; the road surveyed changes from a 4-lane straight, wide
road (where I was ticketed) to a 2-lane road with a couple curves; yet the
survey does not indicate where the average speed was measured, and recommends
the 25mph for the entire stretch. The 25mph limit has been in place for
over 6 years.
This zone was marked as "speed measured by radar," but I didn't pay much
attention to it since I've seen signs like that all the time and have never
been stopped before, plus it was around 10pm when traffic was light and I
didn't think they'd be out. I observed no obvious technical mistakes on the
ticket. I get the feeling that the P.D. is very experienced enforcing speed
tickets in this area, and derives quite a nice bit of revenue from motorists
passing through their township.
Interestingly, a note from the police chief stapled to the front of the
survey indicated that the department policy was not to ticket *below* the
85th percentile (38mph), but they should not volunteer this information,
only if they get complaints about speeders. The radar measured my speed
at over 38mph, and probably beyond any reasonable margin of error.
The survey shows that accidents are clustered at intersections, the most
accidents at the busiest intersection with a light, where the road crosses at
an angle. I suspect the accidents are related to issues other than speed:
pedestrians, right and left turns against the light, running the light, etc.
I not close to this intersection when ticketed.
Any ideas how to fight this in court? Could I argue that the recommendations
of the traffic survey are flawed because they failed to show that the high
accident rate was due to speeding? That it unrealistically sets a single
speed despite widely differing road conditions, and despite the fact that
85% of drivers are in violation of the law? Any other ideas where I should
investigate? What argument or evidence will best stand up in a court (county
seat) that is probably used to enforcing this law?
Thanks in advance...