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20mph school speed zones will be enforced 24/7

W

Wingznut

Elite Member
How freakin' stupid is that??? I'm expected to go 20mph on a four lane 45mph road, in the middle of a Sunday night during July, if it's in a school zone. No longer will "when children are present" be a factor. And yes, this includes all 365 days of the year.

This combined with the fact that tickets are being written at an all time high (there are now over 10,000 cases, an ~7 month wait, pending trial in Multnomah county alone) and last year the The Legislature also limited judges' discretion to reduce fines. Tickets that once could have been cut in half by the judge now can be reduced by only 25 percent.

Seems like just another crummy way for this state to get more income. :|
 
Wow... that's insane. I guess you could argue that it just gets people in the habit of driving slowly there all the time.
 
I don't see what's so bad. It's not like school zones stretch for 50 miles. Besides, don't you guys NOT have sales tax in Oregon? I think that makes up for it. 🙂
 
I never understood that "when children are present" though... are you supposed to look for them while doing 45mph and expect to slow down immediately ? What about the dude behind you - are they supposed to follow your lead or watch for them themself while ramming you from behind as you saw them first ?
 
1. School zones aren't that big
2. Kids tend to be around schools 365 days a year. They often have playgrounds, courts, other outdoor facilities
3. We all speed too much anyway. I know I do.
4. These laws aren't here yet so I can still be rational about it. 😀
 
Originally posted by: rh71
I never understood that "when children are present" though... are you supposed to look for them while doing 45mph and expect to slow down immediately ? What about the dude behind you - are they supposed to follow your lead or watch for them themself while ramming you from behind as you saw them first ?
Click to expand...
When the yellow lights are flashing?
 
Originally posted by: aswedc
Originally posted by: rh71
I never understood that "when children are present" though... are you supposed to look for them while doing 45mph and expect to slow down immediately ? What about the dude behind you - are they supposed to follow your lead or watch for them themself while ramming you from behind as you saw them first ?
Click to expand...
When the yellow lights are flashing?
Click to expand...

There are still children around even when those lights are not flashing.
 
Originally posted by: aswedc
Originally posted by: rh71
I never understood that "when children are present" though... are you supposed to look for them while doing 45mph and expect to slow down immediately ? What about the dude behind you - are they supposed to follow your lead or watch for them themself while ramming you from behind as you saw them first ?
Click to expand...
When the yellow lights are flashing?
Click to expand...
So these lights are on... when the crossing guard pushes a button ?

Why not a law that simply says flashing yellow = 20mph ? What's with having to look for children being present ?
 
Originally posted by: rh71
Originally posted by: aswedc
Originally posted by: rh71
I never understood that "when children are present" though... are you supposed to look for them while doing 45mph and expect to slow down immediately ? What about the dude behind you - are they supposed to follow your lead or watch for them themself while ramming you from behind as you saw them first ?
Click to expand...
When the yellow lights are flashing?
Click to expand...
So these lights are on... when the crossing guard pushes a button ?

Why not a law that simply says flashing yellow = 20mph ? What's with having to look for children being present ?
Click to expand...

The flashing lights are probably on a timer. The timer does not take sporting events, practices for sports, etc. into account. I'm sure there would never be kids around the school after 11PM but I remember being at the gym for basketball practice quite late when I was in high school.
 
Originally posted by: CChaos
1. School zones aren't that big
2. Kids tend to be around schools 365 days a year. They often have playgrounds, courts, other outdoor facilities
3. We all speed too much anyway. I know I do.
4. These laws aren't here yet so I can still be rational about it. 😀
Click to expand...
1. Irrelevant
2. Definitely not. If I were to drive by schools right this minute, most of them would be empty.
3. What's that got to do with anything?
4. 🙂


I'm a parent of two boys, and I'm all for 20mph during reasonable circumstances. But this law is just ridiculous.
 
Assuming children's safety is really the goal, the law is well-intentioned, but the 24/7 aspect of it is idiotic. However, one would hope a cop would not pull you over if you were doing 35 in a school zone at 2 AM on a Tuesday in July or something.
Besides, don't you guys NOT have sales tax in Oregon? I think that makes up for it.
Click to expand...
Believe me, we have plenty of other taxes to make up for it. :|
 
Around here I drive the normal speed through the school zones during the summer. The places are totally dead with no one there at all. The cops do the same thing.
 
Originally posted by: Wingznut
Linkage about the new law.
Linkage about the Multnomah County traffic court jam.
Click to expand...
Motorists contesting a ticket are waiting about three times longer than usual to get a court date. As a result, revenue collection from fines has dropped, and court officials are scrambling to find ways to bring cases to trial more quickly.

Fines for tickets jumped dramatically last year, giving drivers more reason to fight rather than admit guilt and pay.
Click to expand...
HAHAHAHA!! Back-fired motherfsckers! 😀

Wingnuts, this stupid law went through because too many people fought the "when children are present" clause and won. My understanding is that eventually all school zones will be required to have flashing yellow lights to indicate when drivers should do 20 mph or not.
 
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: Wingznut
Linkage about the new law.
Linkage about the Multnomah County traffic court jam.
Click to expand...
Motorists contesting a ticket are waiting about three times longer than usual to get a court date. As a result, revenue collection from fines has dropped, and court officials are scrambling to find ways to bring cases to trial more quickly.

Fines for tickets jumped dramatically last year, giving drivers more reason to fight rather than admit guilt and pay.
Click to expand...
HAHAHAHA!! Back-fired motherfsckers! 😀

Wingnuts, this stupid law went through because too many people fought the "when children are present" clause and won. My understanding is that eventually all school zones will be required to have flashing yellow lights to indicate when drivers should do 20 mph or not.
Click to expand...

They don't have those now? We have had those here my entire life. School zones here are generally 25 MPH except when the speed limit is already 25 MPH. In that case for some reason they drop it to 20 MPH.
 
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