Quote:
Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman
Just because it's not posted doesn't mean it isn't so. Also ignorance of the law is generally not accepted as an excuse.
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I agree. The only reason to post speed limits at all is that they vary from location to location, so without the signs there would be no way to know what the speed is for a particular road. A limit which applies everywhere (such as "max speed for trailers 55 mph regardless of posted limit") doesn't need signs... any more than there needs to be a sign that says "no driving while drunk" for that to be illegal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Bennett
For the most part, I agree with this statement. However, how is one to know? Say I am doing a cross country tour of the US, how could I possibly know and remember every unposted speed limit?
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The same way you know whether you can turn right on a red
light (after stopping), or if you can tow two trailers behind your truck, or any of the other rules... looking it up, and maybe (although this can be unreliable) following the example of local drivers.
I certainly don't know these rules for everywhere I've driven. A couple years ago we drove across six provinces (which is like crossing a dozen states) and I'll admit that I didn't research road rules in any of them. I think in practice, while ignorance of the law is not an excuse, for someone with an out-of-province/state
license it seems likely to be an adequate reason to be let off with a warning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Bennett
Of course, common sense will help out some. I know all rural roads in Alberta are 80 kph, unless otherwise posted.
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... and that varies by province and state, without signs to tell us that. It won't be a lot different from the same values (30 mph / 50 km/h urban, 50 mph / 80 km/h rural) in any province or state, but it's still our problem to know the right limit. Maybe common sense says that if you're the only one doing something, it might not be locally appropriate.