I Saw the Sign

Long-time readers are well aware of my troubles with velocity. Stories revolving around my speeding tickets dominate this blog. My most famous encounter was when I tried to fight a speeding ticket because there was no sign on the road where I was pulled over. I was going 40 in a 25 on a road that looked like it could handle a 40mph vehicle. More importantly, there were no speed limit signs along the stretch of road I was on. I tried to explain this to the pompous windbag identified as "The Prosecutor" (How dare he share a moniker with the likes of Jack McCoy), but he told me that roads in the town limits are assumed to be 25mph if there is no sign. I asked how I was supposed to know this. He said, "You should have asked someone."

Needless to say, I was annoyed. My annoyance grew when my roommate was stopped along the same stretch of road. He was going 45 in a 25. My roommate feigned ignorance by claiming that he didn't know what the speed limit was. This was, of course, a bald-faced lie. Keep in mind that he's my friend - meaning that he's heard me tell my tale more times than Catholics and football coaches say "hail mary!" But the police officer just lets him off with a warning. A WARNING!! The short brown man with a goatee gets off with a warning.... in WEST VIRGINIA!!

Well, three days later, I'm driving down this road again (why I don't avoid this path to class is beyond me) when I see not one, but TWO "Speed Limit 25" signs. Now either my roommate had a more profound effect upon the Morgantown traffic police than I ever could have imagined, or other people have used my particular defense before and the folks at the county courthouse are getting annoyed. Personally, I like to think that this is all because of me - they heard my defense eight months ago, and they just now got around to putting up the signs.

Whatever happened, it's a stupid speed limit for this particular road. It's technically within the Morgantown city limits, but the road resembles a country road with houses on it more than a city street. A speed limit of 35mph would be more reasonable, and I think the traffic cops know this. They want to catch people driving at a reasonable (but still illegal) rate. We high-velocity villains must be stopped.

--------------
The West Virginia Department of Transportation - Providing closure for long-running blog posts since 2007.