Another speeding ticket! What's the law in your state??
 

My daughter just got her first speeding ticket today. She's 16 and had her license for a month and a half. She came sobbing into the house. She was ticketed for going 41 mph in a School Zone of 20 mph (I didn't even know my car could go so slow before we moved here, LOL!!). Normally, this road is 35 mph.

We moved from California to Texas four years ago and we just can't believe how low the speed limits are here in the DFW area.

In California, our School Zone was 35 mph. Most surface streets were 45 mph to 55 mph. Here, they are from 25 mph to 45 mph with an occasional 55 mph. But the trick here, they like to catch you off guard. They don't post speed limit signs very frequently, and the speed limit changes depending what town you're in, even though it is the same road. Yeah, we know those are speed traps but it is sooo annoying.

Also, another big frustration are the drivers here. They are the WORST! More than half don't use their turn signals and those that do, use them incorrectly. For example: they move into the turn pocket across two lanes without signalling, but for some reason they put their blinker on while they are waiting in the turn pocket!

Absolutely maddening! And they are rude, too. They hardly ever let you in front of them even though you signal properly. In fact, they often speed up, causing you to miss your turn. I never saw that in California.

What is YOUR state like?

The law in my state (NY) is the same as in any other state -- you must obey the posted speed limit. Our school zones are 15 and 20 and 30 all other times.

I'm sorry about your daughter's ticket, but look at it as a blessing in disguise - a little reminder for her to stay at or below the speed limit. That's not such a bad thing when you are young and inexperienced.

In my state your daughter would be going to court for reckless driving automatically- large fine and points on her licence (in addition to a separate ticket for speeding in a school zone)

I think your daughter is learning a valuable lesson- slow down

In my state we have bad drivers too- we also allow 16 year olds behind the wheel. Something I would like to see changed

My state is Texas and just so you know ... the fines are doubled in a school zone.

School zones here are 20 mph when school is in session, otherwise 35 mph as the schools are located in heavily settled neighborhoods. Most of the local roads/driving in neighborhoods are 35 mph. Highways are 55/65 mph. Of course, that is subject to change depending on weather and if there is a speed limit posted.

By the way the fine for speeding is pretty steep - $50 for up to the first 10 miles over the limit, and then $10 for every mile over the limit after the first 10, so 15 miles over the limit would be a $100 fine. On top of that, you get penalized points for your insurance, so you pay an additional penalty for 7 years.

Does your state offer a diversion program to avoid the penalty points and reduce the amount of the fine?

WHere I am in Texas they have a Deferred Adjudication program. It'll keep it off your record and save your insurance but it won't save you $$ on the ticket.

In Montana -- 15 mph with double fines for speeding in a school zone.

I can't help but point out that 41 is still 6 mph over the speed limit on that road even if she wasn't in the school zone.

I think this is a pretty mild lesson for her that you need to pay attention when you drive.

Someone from CALIFORNIA complaining about another state's drivers????????????

When you see your daughter's fine, please let us know what is is.

I didn't mean to sound too harsh Aggie- younger drivers scare me- I remember how badly I drove during my teen years!

Kath - the cop already told her about "deferred adjudication." She will be doing that.

By the way - I didn't make this clear in my post. I am NOT saying that she does not deserve a ticket. She knows she broke the law and she will pay. I am not defending her.

My problem is the low speed limits here. I was interested to know what other states are that low. I'm from Connecticut and I know they're on the low side, too, as I recall. And I think Florida, too. Any other state in the union that has reasonable speed limits besides California??

Maryland speed limits always seem low to me-

granted, any road in my state without a posted speed limit was automatically 55mph (until recently this included dirt roads)

Hey bigtyke - I find California's drivers to be much preferable to ones in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and Connecticut to name a few. People just wander here. They don't pay attention. Really annoying.

The best drivers I have ever encountered, though, are in England and Germany. Super!

Aggiemom, I learned how to drive in New Jersey, the land of the jughandle, lol. I was so glad to marry and move to New York were the drivers were tame by comparison.

Just recently I visited my sister who lives near Flemington. We traveled on a Country Road where the speed limit was 50 - the road was narrow with deep ditches on both sides. That road would easily be a 30mph road where I live, but my husband insisted on driving the 50. If I could have given him a ticket, I would have :)

My husband has driven in both California and Texas...I'll have to ask him when he comes home what he thinks...

Connecticut roads have not changed. A couple of years back, my girlfriend (who has a lead foot) got a speeding ticket on the way to visit me. She was doing 50 through a school zone and was fined $350 - I don't know if she got points though.

Hi aggiemom, streets in my town have various speed limits, anything from 30 to 45mph. But in school zones it is always 25 mph when "children are present" I live in California btw. Some of the major streets that schools on located on have flashing warning lights but the secondary streets do not. It is up to the driver to be aware of the laws and speed limits.

Dear one, in my city a few months ago a young man went speeding down a street when grade school students had just gotten out of school. Many students had their parents or caretakers there to walk them home.

This young man speeded up, lost control of his car and ended up on the sidewalk. Two young children (siblings) were killed and ten other children were injured. A pregant mother was crushed between the drivers car and a fence. The young man will have his court case in January. In the meantime he has been in jail.

In our town if you go 41mph with a 35mph speed limit you will be ticketed. And heaven help you if you speed in a school zone.

May I suggest, after years of being in the insurance business, if you live in an area where drivers are the "worse" it is all the more reason for your daughter to follow the traffic laws and be a cautious driver.

This ticket hopefully will cause her to be a better and a safer driver in the future. A ticket is a minor problem compared to injuries and deaths.

And aggiemom, every parent goes through this when their teens become drivers. I wish all of our states would increase the age limit required to get a drivers license to age 18.

Best wishes to you and hang in there, raising teens is not easy.

We have wide open roads in the prairies that are being turned into subdivisions over long periods of time- and some of them are 20mph or 25 mph zones intermittantly. You have to look at the posted speed levels allowed constantly, you would never guess that roads with nothing on them would have such speed requirements.

I got my first speeding ticket in my life 2 years ago on one of these. I do feel like they are semi-traps. I paid a $100 ticket for going 37 in a 25 zone. The signs were posted very far apart and I could have probably beat it if I wanted to take off of work to do so. In fact, I know I could have.

But what everyone says is true. Especially when there are flashing light school zones or posted 20 mph school zones. In IL you can go to traffic school for a day, pay your ticket and have it taken totally off your record in 3 years if you get no further violations from that time period. Or you can pay your ticket as well and not go to traffic school and then when it is time to renew your license- you have to take the tests again. Or you can fight your ticket in court. But all local areas can vary with county rules as well- especially with holding the actual license. In some districts you get your physical license/ID back, and in others you have to drive "on" a ticket form.

Better that her getting hit though. We had a 4 month past her license driver get killed by me last year- 2 blocks from my house. She assumed a 4 way stop was on the corner that just changed to a 2 way stop. It's getting to be a real maze where I live. My guy is a great driver and he feels ready to bale. I pass that spot with the "Kristen" written on it every day.

I do know how hard it is to be 16 and get a ticket. It was even hard for me- this policeman wasn't nice about it either. I do feel for her, but in the long run it probably will make her more careful. It did me.

LoveItaly - I'm surprised that you'd be ticketed for going 41 in a 35 zone.

I never got a speeding ticket in California. We lived in Orange County. And it's "understood" that if you are going less than 15 mph over the limit (except school zone) you won't get a ticket. I've had one ticket here in Texas so far. We won't talk about my DH!

I am not so much bothered by the monetary cost of this ticket (probably over $300 would be my guess). My daughter knows she has to pay. I get a little hot under the collar when the police don't ticket the really wreckless drivers. Some guy almost hit me a couple weeks ago. I was in my lane, he started to exit a gas station, saw me, and slowed up. He then started up again and I had to slam on my brakes. I came to a complete stop. He was oblivious and just kept right on going. He surely deserved a ticket. This has happened a few times here. Really unsafe.

I've gotten only 1 speeding ticket in my life and that was recently for going 37 in a 25 mph zone (on road that people use as a shortcut that goes thru a huge city park, the Arboretum). Nearby homeowners had complained and hidden motorcycle cops were popping every other car that drove by.

from the state of Washington

I am a born and raised Angeleno and maybe things are different in OC, but as far as I have ever known speeding is speeding and you can get a ticket. I've never heard of the 15 MPH over the limit understanding of which you speak. I have had only 2 tickets in my entire. One was for going 60ish in a 50 zone in Pasadena and the other was for going 40 in a 30 zone in Glendora. As far as I know, speed limit within 500 feet of a school during school hours is 25. That what is said in the driver's ed handbook as recently as a few years ago, at least.

<i>And it's &quot;understood&quot; that if you are going less than 15 mph over the limit (except school zone) you won't get a ticket</i>

I take it you left before Arnie got into office. Now you can be ticketed for going 1 mph over the speed limit. And I've seen it happen. (it's a great revenue booster)