Exceeding Speed Limit to Pass - isn't it allowed?

Hello all,

I recently got a ticket for 10 km/h over the speed limit (70 in a 60 zone).

However, this was only due to an acceleration to pass the car on my left.

There was a police cruiser pulled over on the right lane, and the car in the left was moving very slowly 50 km/h in a 60, with many vehicles behind him in queue. The most efficient thing for me to do, instead of coming to a complete stop to get into the left, was to accelerate to 65-70 and pass the driver in the left to clear the cop in the right lane.

The cop in the right lane was about 200 metres or so ahead of me so there was no real danger of me hitting the cop. He was well far ahead. From when I had passed and switched to the left, I had been driving for 10 seconds or so until I actually reached him.

Lo and behold there was another cop hidden in a hidden driveway with a radar gun who walked over to signal me to pull over.

I got the ticket for 10 km/h over, BUT TO MY KNOWLEDGE I THINK WE ARE ALLOWED TO ACCELERATE 10 KM/H OR SO ABOVE THE SPEED LIMIT WHEN PASSING. IN THIS CASE I HAD TO PASS, AS COMING TO A COMPLETE STOP SO FAR AWAY FROM THE INCIDENT WAS UNREALISTIC and inefficient driving.

Can anybody help me please? My court date is in about 2 hours lol...

Sorry, there is no exception in the Highway Traffic Act for exceeding the speed limit in order to pass. The speed limit is supposed to be the MAXIMUM (including when passing).

Agreed, you can go up to the maximum to pass slow traffic, not 30 over to pass the guy doing the limit.

It's too bad the left lane bandit didn't get ticketed as well.

Marquisse wrote:

It's too bad the left lane bandit didn't get ticketed as well.

+1

Radar Identified wrote:

Marquisse wrote:

It's too bad the left lane bandit didn't get ticketed as well.

+1

Unless the left lane person saw the cruiser (lights on or not) and being responsible moved over to the left lane and slowed down to avoid the vehicle on the shoulder.

hwybear wrote:

Radar Identified wrote:

Marquisse wrote:

It's too bad the left lane bandit didn't get ticketed as well.

+1

Unless the left lane person saw the cruiser (lights on or not) and being responsible moved over to the left lane and slowed down to avoid the vehicle on the shoulder.

You try to do the right thing and you STILL get hosed.

Yes, and isn't it technically illegal to honk your horn or flash your high beems at a left lane hog?

Bookm wrote:

hwybear wrote:

Radar Identified wrote:

+1

Unless the left lane person saw the cruiser (lights on or not) and being responsible moved over to the left lane and slowed down to avoid the vehicle on the shoulder.

You try to do the right thing and you STILL get hosed.

If the vehicle can not move to the left, (not safe to do so), the option is to slow down, "not" accelerate as indicated in this situation

beleafer81 wrote:

Yes, and isn't it technically illegal ... flash your high beams at a left lane hog?

Is this true?? I follow the well-understood and accepted European practice of flicking the high-beams at left lane slugs ALL THE TIME (and it usually works). I never once thought it might be illegal

Last I checked my passport does not say Europe

It is an offence when headlights have to be on....from "fail to use lower beam - following" (3pts) to..., if someone was so blinded it caused them to swerve out of their lane "careless driving (6pts)".

Yes, I obtained a conviction on the careless in court on it, I was blinded so bad could not see, guess the person did not realize it was a cruiser in front of him ...not too mention following too close and original speed.

hwybear wrote:

guess the person did not realize it was a cruiser in front of him

Did he need "POLICE" written bigger on the back of the car? Or maybe the large light deck on the roof might've been another clue.

Radar Identified wrote:

hwybear wrote:

guess the person did not realize it was a cruiser in front of him

Did he need "POLICE" written bigger on the back of the car? Or maybe the large light deck on the roof might've been another clue.

oops...unmarked cruiser, but was still a Crown Vic, 2 antennas, light bar across back window, "bumble bee" sticker (should have seen that the driver was so close)

No, I don't go all nuts with the high beams or anything. Just a a few gentle flicks of the brights (which I also do when passing a car).

This is all standard practice in Europe. Too bad we can't incorporate some of their driving etiquette. Here, a flick of the brights is apt to get you a face full of brake lights instead of the courtesy of moving right.

hwybear wrote:

oops...unmarked cruiser, but was still a Crown Vic, 2 antennas, light bar across back window, "bumble bee" sticker (should have seen that the driver was so close)

Well at least that's not as spectacularly idiotic as doing that with a marked cruiser, but 2 antennae plus bumble bee sticker on a Crown Vic are a dead giveaway, plus tinted windows I'm assuming? It's all but saying "POLICE." It's not like they're hard to pick out, either. I've picked them out over 2 km away.

Bookm wrote:

Here, a flick of the brights is apt to get you a face full of brake lights instead of the courtesy of moving right.

Or the finger... Germany is really strict on lane discipline (and many other things). Parts of the Autobahn have no speed limit, but the Polizei enforce all laws on the books. I still remember the sign on the Autobahn. It featured a very stern-looking officer with his arms crossed, along with the translation: "WE ARE WATCHING YOU."

That said, there are some places in NA where people will move out of the way for faster-moving traffic. In Canada, most of Alberta and Saskachewan, people will move right if a faster-moving car approaches; in the US, same thing in places like Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, etc. I've actually come up on other vehicles in Montana on two-lane highways and had them signal right and pull onto the paved shoulder.

SO the speed limit is suppose to be the absolute max you should drive.. RIGHT??

then how do some ppl get 2 demerit points for driving 10km to slow?

if the max is what ur suppose to be driving then why do ppl get tickets for driving 10 below?? its a grey area

The first two reasons I can think of is that driving too slow can be just as dangerous as driving too fast, particularly when one is driving significantly under the speed limit on a 400 series highway. I think the danger is in the variable speeds on the road. If you are doing 10 under in the left lane, for instance, not only are you endangering yourself and others due to speed differences, but you are disrupting traffic flow. Driving significantly under the limit, imo, implies something is wrong with the car and I would put the hazards on to signify to drivers that they need to be aware that you are not driving in accordance with traffic flow and they need to be aware of you, and I would most definitely stick to the far right lane. Even then, that lane is the most dangerous because of exits and merges.

Think in terms of making safe lane changes when vehicles are going significantly faster than you, think about the traffic backing up as a result of someone disrupting traffic flow (and all of the ancillary issues that causes, such as increased odds of collisions, disruption to emergency vehicles on clogged roads/highways, etc). Then you have the aggressive morons who deserve tickets as well, who endanger you (the one going slow) as well as themselves and others by tailgating and cutting you off, rapid/aggressive lane changes, and the stop-go effect it has on the rest of traffic.

I tend to think of traffic as a single organism with moving parts that need to be in harmony and in tandem with everything else within it. 50% defensive and 50% offensive driving is required.