TexasCHLforum.com

Keith B wrote:

Charles L. Cotton wrote:

CHL/LEO wrote:. . . Oh yeah, Speeding Cameras are just around the corner.

You're right; this is going to cause quite a stir, even in Austin. I recall years ago being told by a lawyer that specialized in traffic tickets in Houston (and me makes a ton of money too) telling me that state law mandates speed limits to be set by measuring the average speed of traffic, then applying a certain percentage. As I recall, he even gave me the section of the Code, but that was at least 15 years ago. Does anyone know if this is still true and, if so, where is it in the Transportation Code? If this is still the law, I'm going to be busy sending out Open Records Requests for the required studies.

Chas.

It is called the 85th percentile rule. The DoT uses that to 'supposedly' set the speed limit. Here is a link describing it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limit and the link to the TAC http://info.sos.state.tx.us/pls/pub/rea ... h=25&rl=23

That isn't the law though....Only the process defined to standardize how speed studies are done so that speed limits are set consistently.

There are several sections of law that are in play here, and I think this is what the lawyer Charles mentioned was leading toward.

Prima facie speed limits in Texas for all different types of roads are set in TC §545.352(b). When a new road is built, the appropriate speed limit will be determined by this section of the code, no study required. Where a study comes in is if the Texas Transportation Commission wants to *change* the speed limit on a highway, they must use a study conforming to the process you linked to to prove that the prima facie speed limit set by TC §545.352(b) is inappropriate for that highway. (TC §545.353) Studies aren't always required though....Farm to market roads can have their speed limits lowered based on public opinion, for instance. (TC §545.3535) The Tollway Authority also needs to perform studies to change speedlimits on the turnpikes (TC §545.354) and I'm sure that there are some other variations on the theme...I haven't gone over all of the code in any detail.

My IANAL overview.

Personally...I don't mind red light cameras. Steve, if Houston's set up is anything like Plano's, as some of the other posters have mentioned, you'll have a video that you can review (assuming they even bother to try and ticket you in the first place) that will allow you to prove that you were already in the intersection before the light turned red.

I recently read an article about how effective they've been in Plano (and I don't think the yellow lights need to be lengthened in Plano at all.) http://www.planostar.com/articles/2007/ ... 01news.txt