Please: best police officer answer on driving speed limit vs keeping up with traffic

[ryu_haneda]

Similar threads found a few matches on speed limit, but so far, no definite answer from a police officer (apologies if there was a post, I'll be glad to follow any links you post in replies).

First off, I don't care if I catch flak for this or not - God bless every police officer out there putting their lives on the line so I can enjoy the privilege of driving. You put up with enormous amounts of attitude and literally risk your lives so that we can go about our business day-to-day. Thank you a thousand times over.

Back on topic:
I would like a best answer from a police officer on whether you prefer that folks like me drive the speed limit, or float around what traffic is doing. I drive between New Jersey and Pennsylvania on a regular basis, and can attest to people driving between 10 to 15mph over the speed limit. Sometimes, the road doesn't matter at all (it could be a two-lane highway or a boulevard, a divided highway or a turnpike).

Obeying the speed limit often works for me because I don't like getting pulled over, and because of the gasoline-saving measures that you can take at 55 or 65 (and not 75 or 85mph). But keeping up with traffic also means I am not presenting such a difference in operating speeds.

While I can make my case that the majority is not always right, what should a law-abiding citizen do? Can you get pulled over for driving 55 or 60 in a 55 zone if you have traffic tailgating you? Would a police officer consider keeping up with a flow of traffic between 65 to 75 mph a worse offense?

I still enjoy driving, but I want to know what kind of behavior gets a driver in trouble so I know I'm doing the best I can out there.

[WigWag44]

By no means do I think I am the "best" Police Officer on this website, but I will take a stab at an answer because I think I know what you're trying to ask.

You cannot get in trouble for doing the speed limit. Doing 60 in a 55 is, by law, still speeding and you CAN receive a ticket for that. Truth is most Officers enforce speeding when you're a certain speed above the posted limit and everybody knows that. Me, personally, don't pull cars over unless they're doing 15+ mph over the speed limit and I think that's fair. However, if I wanted to pull a car over for doing 55 in a 50 I totally could and it would stand up in court assuming all my paperwork and calibrations are up to date, which they are .

If you're doing the speed limit and cars are tailgating you then THEY should be pulled over for tailgating, not you.

In Delaware we can pull people over for driving too slow, however. We have to be able to justify that the vehicle was driving slow enough to impede traffic flow to where four or more cars were lined up behind it. Again, if the first car is doing the speed limit then no law is broken. I've never pulled over a car for driving too slow but my same principle stands, if they're traveling 15 mph under the speed limit then I'd definitely think about it IF they are creating a traffic hazard.

I hope that helps. The bottom line is you can't get into trouble for traveling the speed limit regardless of whether people are tailgating you or not.

[ryu_haneda]

Thank you so much for your response. I have been tailgated in spots when doing the speed limit (I don't speed up sometimes until I see a sign indicating there is a faster limit, unless the last sign says "END LIMIT 25" for example).