Speeding ticket in Bethesda with DC license

[Anonymous]

OP- He said he was doing me a favor as he claims I was going 47. I thought I was going with the flow of traffic but truly who knows. It’s my first speeding ticket in over 20 years. I’m a safe driver who generally goes within a few miles of the speed limit which is why I’m so upset at myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- He said he was doing me a favor as he claims I was going 47. I thought I was going with the flow of traffic but truly who knows. It’s my first speeding ticket in over 20 years. I’m a safe driver who generally goes within a few miles of the speed limit which is why I’m so upset at myself.

Lol op. I got a ticket by moco cop for going 52 in 35 zone. He wrote the ticket for 44 to keep it one point (vs2 pts). Yes my insurance went up and it explained it was due to the ticket. First ticket in 20+ years as well. Go to court.

[Anonymous]

You were speeding. Period.

No sympathy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- He said he was doing me a favor as he claims I was going 47. I thought I was going with the flow of traffic but truly who knows. It’s my first speeding ticket in over 20 years. I’m a safe driver who generally goes within a few miles of the speed limit which is why I’m so upset at myself.

I knew you didn’t tell us the truth about how fast you were going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You were speeding. Period.

No sympathy.

Good thing she didn’t ask for any.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You were speeding. Period.

No sympathy.

Good thing she didn’t ask for any.

She was going nearly 50mph on a road posted at 35.

Frankly, 1 point is getting off light. It should be at least 2, maybe even 3 if she was near a crosswalk.

[Anonymous]

Op here- Boy. I was very up front that I was speeding and felt bad. All I was asking was a legal question. Does the point transfer and the answer seems to be yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So everyone should change their habits just in case there is some moron crossing in the middle of the street with no crosswalk and when cars have a green?

How about we improve safety in this instance by discouraging pedestrians from doing wildly dangerous things rather that requiring drivers to completely jackass proof pedestrians.

There are plenty of examples where drivers need to change behavior for pedestrian safety, but this isn't one of them.

And this speed limit was changed because one moron was driving 100 mph and hit people. Obviously that guy was at fault, but that doesn't 45 mph is unsafe or shouldn't be the limit.

Yes, everyone should change their habits so that fewer people die on the roads. I think that's worth an extra minute per car trip, don't you?

Also, in Maryland, EVERY intersection is a legal crosswalk, and the law requires drivers to stop for pedestrians at ALL crosswalks. The crosswalks with paint on the pavement, and the crosswalks with no paint on the pavement. Do you do that?

SHA has been treating River Road like a limited access highway, and that needs to change. For one thing, it leads drivers like OP to speed and then get speeding tickets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure, but surprised they nabbed you for going just 9 miles over. Where in Bethesda were you?

44 in 35 is exceeding the speed limit by 26%. That's a big difference.

Also, if your car going 44 mph hits a pedestrian, there's about an 80% chance that the pedestrian will be severely injured, and a 65% chance that the pedestrian will be killed. For 35 mph, the chances are only (!) about 60% and 35%, respectively. That's a big difference, too.

But there is no earthly reason that a pedestrian should be in the middle of River Road (there are only a couple of crossings) particularly when the car has a green light. By that logic, we should never have a speed limit above 10 mph because you never know when there could be a pedestrian and the pedestrian is more likely to get hurt at higher speeds.

So you have done the traffic study?

[Anonymous]

This was a highly controversial speed limit change. After a driver going over 100mph smashed into a car making a left turn (it failed to yield) resulting in the deaths of 3 people, some vocal neighborhood members launched a huge campaign for safety on this road.

Note River Road was designed for 45mph and higher. It's a divided road, 2 lanes each way, with no blind curves, no driveways or entrances directly on the road (there's a service road for that), and even guardrails, on the stretch of road where the speed limit was reduced.

SHA (highway admin) did an extensive report on this -- over 200 pages. It found pedestrian traffic in most stretches averaged 0-2 people per hour, and made no recommendation about lowering the speed limit. With additional pressure, SHA caved.

For an example of absurdity, drive Bradley Boulevard that is parallel to River. It's got a 35mph speed limit, but it's not a divided highway, it has blind curves, and driveways back up directly to it. River Road is considerably safer design-wise, and does not merit the same speed limit as Bradley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Such a crock of @#$, going 44 on River near Wilson isn't remotely unsafe.

Hey look another asshole driver making streets unsafe for other users. Screw you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was a highly controversial speed limit change. After a driver going over 100mph smashed into a car making a left turn (it failed to yield) resulting in the deaths of 3 people, some vocal neighborhood members launched a huge campaign for safety on this road.

Note River Road was designed for 45mph and higher. It's a divided road, 2 lanes each way, with no blind curves, no driveways or entrances directly on the road (there's a service road for that), and even guardrails, on the stretch of road where the speed limit was reduced.

SHA (highway admin) did an extensive report on this -- over 200 pages. It found pedestrian traffic in most stretches averaged 0-2 people per hour, and made no recommendation about lowering the speed limit. With additional pressure, SHA caved.

For an example of absurdity, drive Bradley Boulevard that is parallel to River. It's got a 35mph speed limit, but it's not a divided highway, it has blind curves, and driveways back up directly to it. River Road is considerably safer design-wise, and does not merit the same speed limit as Bradley.

Won't someone think of drivers and their god given right to drive as fast as possible?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP- He said he was doing me a favor as he claims I was going 47. I thought I was going with the flow of traffic but truly who knows. It’s my first speeding ticket in over 20 years. I’m a safe driver who generally goes within a few miles of the speed limit which is why I’m so upset at myself.

If this is your first ticket in years, and you rarely speed, why on earth do you care about the point? Pay the damn fine, don't speed any more, and it's a non issue. You don;'t have to waste any time going to court.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- He said he was doing me a favor as he claims I was going 47. I thought I was going with the flow of traffic but truly who knows. It’s my first speeding ticket in over 20 years. I’m a safe driver who generally goes within a few miles of the speed limit which is why I’m so upset at myself.

If this is your first ticket in years, and you rarely speed, why on earth do you care about the point? Pay the damn fine, don't speed any more, and it's a non issue. You don;'t have to waste any time going to court.

Or just go to court. Officer maybe did do you a favor as you've driven the road for 20 years or whatever and you were proceeding (at 44 mph) under the speed limit that had been in place for all that time. I had a speeding ticket in VA that never transferred. Yes they can transfer, but whether that really happens is unclear. You know how efficient our local jurisdictions are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This was a highly controversial speed limit change. After a driver going over 100mph smashed into a car making a left turn (it failed to yield) resulting in the deaths of 3 people, some vocal neighborhood members launched a huge campaign for safety on this road.

Note River Road was designed for 45mph and higher. It's a divided road, 2 lanes each way, with no blind curves, no driveways or entrances directly on the road (there's a service road for that), and even guardrails, on the stretch of road where the speed limit was reduced.

SHA (highway admin) did an extensive report on this -- over 200 pages. It found pedestrian traffic in most stretches averaged 0-2 people per hour, and made no recommendation about lowering the speed limit. With additional pressure, SHA caved.

For an example of absurdity, drive Bradley Boulevard that is parallel to River. It's got a 35mph speed limit, but it's not a divided highway, it has blind curves, and driveways back up directly to it. River Road is considerably safer design-wise, and does not merit the same speed limit as Bradley.

If you do a traffic study, you will find that the number of cars crossing the Potomac River at Edwards Ferry Road is zero. Therefore there is obviously no need for a new bridge over the Potomac River west of the American Legion Bridge.

Or, more simply: Of course very few people cross River Road on foot, because it's dangerous and scary. The answer to this is to make River Road less dangerous and scary for pedestrians. Lowering the speed limit is one very small part of that. An additional benefit is that River Road will be less dangerous for people in cars, too.