Thus the highway speed limit goes from 55 to 65 or 70. The speed limit is not always set by traffic engineers, but by lawmakers. I took one section as gospel, section 4 of the California Penal Code that says to enforce the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law. That being said I never issued a ticket to anyone that was going less than 10 mph over the limit. There is no leeway for you going 5 over the limit. If you try to keep up with the flow of traffic in California you will be going way over the limit. That means if the speedometer is off that's not a valid reason to dismiss a citation.

At least in California your car is not required to have a speedometer. My recommendation to you as a retired LEO is drive the speed limit. A violation of the basic speed law would not only depend on current conditions, but the abilities of the driver. The basic speed law isn't used much just because of the verbiage of it. In California, in addition to the basic speed law (driving safe for the conditions) there are specific sections for exceeding the posted limit. If he cant, which is most the case, he backs off to 5 over the limit. On the interstate he tries to keep up with the pack. So, unoffically, do I keep up with traffic or stick to the limit or even slower? I know the driving manual talked about keeping with the flow of traffic, however it can warn if you drive the posted limit and conditions are unsafe from excessive traffic, weather, etc you can still get a ticket. I see where it can be a safety concern on city streets with parked cars, schools and intersections, but what about the interstate? I find even on city streets with 25,35mph limits, flks do 45 or more. I was on i 95 and caught myself easily doing 65 with cars passing me in the 55-60mph zones. The problem is, it seems no one goes the limit or even 5 over. I am just mastering driving the posted speed limit vs a few under and in some cases the extra 5 Ive heard I am allowed. As a new driver behind the wheel for a few days over a month I have some questions.

Leo the lop tail two