Speed Limit -8

[Ian]

Found this while browsing on Fail blog and thought I'd share it here. It looks like one of the New Jersey Turnpike variable speed limit signs malfunctioned! According to the comments on the photo, this is along the Pennsylvania Turnpike Extension off the New Jersey Turnpike.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Those things never show the same display. I credit them when they work right. XD

[cu2010]

epic fail.

I wonder if anyone actually tried to go -8mph...

[mightyace]

^^^

Just back up along the shoulder at 8 mph...

[Michael in Philly]

Or go back in time or something.  Can't quite get my head around negative speed.

[Zmapper]

This brings up a question. Legally, what would be the speed limit if something like this showed up on the sign? Can they even ticket you for speeding at all?

[SteveG1988]

you can say i thought it was 88 mph?

[agentsteel53]

you can say i thought it was 88 mph?

it could be as low as 28.  it's very likely a sign whose regulatory validity would get thrown out in court instantly, with the implication being that you should have continued to obey the previous sign.

[deathtopumpkins]

It's always annoyed me on the turnpike when I pass a 65 sign, then a blank sign (which I ignore and continue going 70), then a 45 sign. Makes me feel like maybe the blank one was supposed to be 45. That's always worried me when driving on it.

[Michael in Philly]

you can say i thought it was 88 mph?

it could be as low as 28.  it's very likely a sign whose regulatory validity would get thrown out in court instantly, with the implication being that you should have continued to obey the previous sign.

Or the default - 50 is it? - that they post in some places at the state line.  And even if it's not posted, "ignorance of the law is no excuse."

[english si]

Or go back in time or something.  Can't quite get my head around negative speed.

Negative speed doesn't work - both duration and distance are scalar, not vector. I guess time is vector, so going back in time might work.

However Michael in Philly's suggestion of reversing along the shoulder (as long as you are going the wrong way) would be a velocity of -8, as velocity (displacement/duration) is a vector quantity.

[SteveG1988]

Maybe it is Warp Point Eight?

[agentsteel53]

It's always annoyed me on the turnpike when I pass a 65 sign, then a blank sign (which I ignore and continue going 70), then a 45 sign. Makes me feel like maybe the blank one was supposed to be 45. That's always worried me when driving on it.

the blank one can't be enforced.

neither can one that is knocked down face-down.  except of course when it is enforced, because they know damn well you won't fly back to Rectangular Assbladder County, three time zones from your home, to show up in court and contest it.

so, basically, the speed limit of -8 is a way to levy senseless fines upon out-of-state drivers.

[Truvelo]

Are speed limits ending in 8 allowed? I thought they had to end in 0 or 5.

[Duke87]

Engineering standards (and MUTCD standards?) do stipulate that speed limits should be a multiple of 5 (multiple of 10 for metric), but I don't know about it actually being a legal requirement.

[Roadsign199qc]

Remembering me the Minus World in SMB.

[WillWeaverRVA]

you can say i thought it was 88 mph?

Great Scott!

[Quillz]

Engineering standards (and MUTCD standards?) do stipulate that speed limits should be a multiple of 5 (multiple of 10 for metric), but I don't know about it actually being a legal requirement.

There's a college near my house that prints up its own speed limit signs. The main street that connects all the campuses together has a speed limit of 12 mph while the parking lots have a speed limit of 4 mph.

[deathtopumpkins]

Part of the road connecting I-64 to US 60 and Busch Gardens Williamsburg here is posted at 18 mph. The signs I believe are all posted by the park up until the US 60 interchange, but apart from the advance signs for the exits, all appear to be perfectly MUTCD-standard

[golden eagle]

Are speed limits ending in 8 allowed? I thought they had to end in 0 or 5.

The speed limit of the University of Mississippi campus is 18, in honor of former quarterback Archie Manning.

[Compulov]

I remember seeing this one for a while (and laughed when I saw it on failblog). That particular one is the last variable speed sign before the bridge. The last time I was out there it was blank.

If I remember my NJ drivers manual... I believe that if the speed limit is ever not posted, default speed limits come into play. That's 25 in a residential, 25 (35?) in a business district, and I believe 50 everywhere else. Technically, I suppose a trooper could bust you for going over 50 in that case, but there are other 55 signs before that one, so it should be assumed that the speed limit of 55 carried over. Guess it depends on the mood of the judge whether it'd hold up in court. Of course I doubt that going 88 would hold up in court (though I'd love to see the judge's face if you tried -- might get off on comedic value), especially since the state speed limit is 65. I would like to see someone try and fight a ticket for 65 in a 55 (or even say 70 in a 55) if there was no number on the sign, though, under the assumption that 65 is the "typical" turnpike speed limit.

This reminds me... I was a bit taken by the 60mph speed limit on I-83 north of Baltimore the other day. I think that's the first time I can recall seeing 60 on a freeway (or at least the first time in a long while). For some reason they always use 55 or 65 (or 70 & 75 outside the northeast).

[rmsandw]

A sign at the Stark County Courthouse in Wisconsin has a speed limit 2 sign.

[deathtopumpkins]

This reminds me... I was a bit taken by the 60mph speed limit on I-83 north of Baltimore the other day. I think that's the first time I can recall seeing 60 on a freeway (or at least the first time in a long while). For some reason they always use 55 or 65 (or 70 & 75 outside the northeast).

Virginia staggers speed limit decreases going into cities most of the time, which leads to, at least on I-64 heading into Hampton Roads, 70 -> 65 -> 60 -> 55. Plus I-664 and I-464 within Hampton Roads have segments with a speed limit of 60.

I had never really thought about it, always assuming that that was just as common a speed limit as any of the other even numbers (50, 40, etc.).

[Compulov]

A sign at the Stark County Courthouse in Wisconsin has a speed limit 2 sign.

Can they give you a speeding ticket if you run?

[Compulov]

This reminds me... I was a bit taken by the 60mph speed limit on I-83 north of Baltimore the other day. I think that's the first time I can recall seeing 60 on a freeway (or at least the first time in a long while). For some reason they always use 55 or 65 (or 70 & 75 outside the northeast).

Virginia staggers speed limit decreases going into cities most of the time, which leads to, at least on I-64 heading into Hampton Roads, 70 -> 65 -> 60 -> 55. Plus I-664 and I-464 within Hampton Roads have segments with a speed limit of 60.

I had never really thought about it, always assuming that that was just as common a speed limit as any of the other even numbers (50, 40, etc.).

I've seen that elsewhere, just usually in 10s... 65 -> 55 -> 45 (if needed). One place that sticks in my mind outside the freeway system is Old Trenton Road in West Windsor, NJ. The road is 50, but drops down to 35 because of a blind intersection and a traffic light. They drop the limit to 45, then, I think to 40, then to 35. I wish more roads had staggered speed drops, since it's highly irritating to go from a 50 zone to 25 (usually with a cop sitting right behind the sign). By staggering it, you can at least just let up off the gas and cruise down to the proper speed.