Pulled over on Rowlett Road

[fizteach]

I came out of Garland on Rowlett Road and was getting ready to cross the bridge into Rowlett. I thought I was in an unincorporated area so I accelerated coming off of the hill as I left Garland. I didn't see a sign when I crossed over the bridge into Rowlett, as a car was in the right lane blocking my view.

I think I then saw a 40 mph sign as I saw an officer and I slowed down. He motioned me over, so I stopped, presented my licenses and he wrote me a ticket for 55 in a 40.

Some questions I need to ponder before deciding whether I need to contest the ticket:

Is Rowlett Road between Garland and the bridge unincorporated?
What does the state have to say about speed limits on unincorporated roads?

Thanks

[gregthehand]

By unincoporated do you mean a county maintained road as opposed to a road that is maintained by a city?

[KRM45]

A peace officer can enforce the traffic code in the entire county in which their city lies. If the city falls within more than one county they can enforce the law in all counties.

If he was standing in Rowlett and he saw you enter Rowlett he can write you a ticket.

I recommend Defensive Driviing....

[fizteach]

I am wondering if the state sets limits on what the speed limit can be in areas not incorporated in cities. I cannot do defensive driving as I have a commercial license.

I am aware an officer can ticket me outside of his jurisdiction.












i am wondering if

[BrassMonkey]

It sucks to have a commercial license and get a ticket. The only way out is to be found not guilty.

Sounds like he wants to fight it based on the info on the citation. If this is true, it won't work... Sorry hoss... That's a myth...

[srothstein]

OK, I am not a lawyer, so I might be wrong on some of these. Charles, or someone else, can correct me and I will freely accept that I could be wrong. I would think you have only three ways to fight the ticket:

1. Check very carefully for where the signs are posted that lower the speed limit. The previous limit will normally be considered to be in effect until there is a posted sign changing it. This way, you could argue you were doing 55 in a 55 when the officer clocked you and you were slowing down for the new speed zone. This has probably the best chance of working, and it is not very good.

2. Check very carefully for the location marked on the ticket and the city borders. If the ticket was written for municipal court, they have no jurisdiction to hear the case for an offense that occurred outside the city. Same goes for JP and their precinct boundary. This is a small chance, but might work.

3. Admit to the court you were doing 55 and challenge the 40 as being an artificially low limit. This is based on the fact that our law technically defines speeding as a speed which is not reasonable or prudent. Going over the posted limit is a prima facia case, which means you can argue that your were still reasonable and prudent even though you were faster than the posted limit. This is probably the worst chance of winning and might take an appeal or three to get it above the county court level before it works.

Overall, I would say your best bet is to pay the ticket while taking friendly to the judge and see if he will forget to report it to the state. I think the no defensive driving for CDLs is the dumbest idea of all of the traffic laws passed recently. If the idea of defensive driving is to really improve the driving habits of the person ticketed, where does society benefit more than improving the driving of the guy who makes a living on the road?

[yobdab]

The fastest speed allowed in that area is 45 mph. As you cross the bridge there is a large brick structure probably 6ft high that has Rowlett marked on it in the center divider. There is no typical green city limit sign. It's Garland until then. I lve in the area.

[308nato]

I have a commercial license and when I first moved here I was
averaging a ticket a year for a few years and always took the
driving classes.
has the law changed in the last few years?

[BrassMonkey]

September 2005 it changed...

I have a commercial license and when I first moved here I was
averaging a ticket a year for a few years and always took the
driving classes.
has the law changed in the last few years?

[KRM45]

I am wondering if the state sets limits on what the speed limit can be in areas not incorporated in cities. I cannot do defensive driving as I have a commercial license.

I am aware an officer can ticket me outside of his jurisdiction.

Oops, sorry. We have an area like that here and everyone says hey, I can speed here and the local police can't give me a ticket... Of course they sometimes learn the hard way.

[CHL/LEO]

Any bridge over Lake Ray Hubbard is in the City of Dallas, along with all of the lake. However, we've got too many other problems to ever have the time to work traffic enforcement on those bridges. So, about two or three years ago Rowlett petitioned the City of Dallas to be allowed to enforce traffic violations on our bridges and Dallas subsequently allowed them to do so.

They said that the reason that they "needed" the ability to enforce the traffic laws is that too many people are speeding on the bridges because they knew Dallas PD was never there, and by the time these speeders entered into Rowlett they were a danger to their citizens. You might still see Dallas squad cars traveling on the bridges but that's probably due to them being on the way to a wreck on a bridge. It's funny how Rowlett will work traffic enforcement on our bridges but never the wrecks.

[DoubleJ]

IANAL but does this have anything to do with CHL?

[KBCraig]

IANAL but does this have anything to do with CHL?

The forum topic is "LEO Contacts & Bloopers".

[fizteach]

Oh well, Rowlett got my $160.00 out of this deal. I believe this is a monumental ripoff, as from all appearances I was in a country environment and then in Rowlett, with no real chance of slowing down because I did not see the sign. Oh well.

[bpet]

Sorry about the delay in replying but just saw the post. I'm afraid I have to comment about the perception of "country environment". There are houses (nice houses) on both sides of the lake and on each side of Rowlett road. To the south is the city of Garland, then the lake with causeway & bridge and to the north is the city of Rowlett. Garland and Rowlett abut the lake as do the houses/businesses in each respective city. You may have been lulled into increasing your speed coming down the hill out of Garland before crossing the bridge and there are no houses on the causeway but I believe it is obvious that it is an incorporated area.

However, in support of your position that it's easy to speed in this area because of the openness of the causeway, it happens all the time. Regulars in the area recognize the fact that Rowlett regularly sets up radar to catch people coming across the bridge and throttle accordingly. However, when leaving Rowlett headed for Garland, Rowlett road becomes a racetrack as soon as you make the bend entering the bride. People just can't seem to stand not being first to wait in the left turn lane at Roan road and it's not uncommon to be passed while doing 52 in a 40.

Nasty place to try to do the speed limit.