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dreamer21
i was caught in on a dual carriage way doing 55 in the 40 zone. the road is 60 and then changes to 40 but by the time i had seen the sign i was reducing my speed and i was caught doing the 55. can i appeal my speeding fine as there was no reduce speed now sign?

on the other side of the road there are same road but there are speed signs that say reduce speed now.

the police was also parked on the verge of the road half on the grass and half on the road.

please advise me on best course of action.
AFCNEAL
The speed limit is indicated by signs (above 30) and is effective (usually) at the location of the sign. There is no requirement for other signage - on the basis your eyesight meets the requirement you will have been able to see the 40 sign long before you reached it?

Not much defence here I think..........
dreamer21
as the 40 sign was on the bend on the uxbridge road dual carriage way it took me 10 sec to make it out thats when i started slowing down.
sgtdixie
QUOTE (dreamer21 @ Wed, 27 Aug 2014 - 11:08) *
as the 40 sign was on the bend on the uxbridge road dual carriage way it took me 10 sec to make it out thats when i started slowing down.

10 seconds at 60 mph is 300 yards. Unless the signs were unlawfully small I would suggest that you don't have a defence.

peterguk
QUOTE (dreamer21 @ Wed, 27 Aug 2014 - 11:08) *
it took me 10 sec to make it out


10 seconds to see a sign and process it's meaning?

I hope you're a little quicker with red lights.

As already stated, no warning signs of upcoming limit changes are required.
andy_foster
Speed limit signs at the start of a lower limit must be sited and maintained such that a reasonably observant driver driving within the speed limit on the higher limit road has sufficient notice of the lower limit to enable him to slow down to the lower limit by the time he enters the lower limit.

Opinions of the OP's observational skills do not seem to be relevant to the purpose of this thread.
Logician
QUOTE (dreamer21 @ Wed, 27 Aug 2014 - 11:00) *
the police was also parked on the verge of the road half on the grass and half on the road. please advise me on best course of action.


As long as the police were able to measure your speed, where they were parked is of no significance.

Spenny
QUOTE (dreamer21 @ Wed, 27 Aug 2014 - 11:08) *
as the 40 sign was on the bend on the uxbridge road dual carriage way it took me 10 sec to make it out thats when i started slowing down.

Without being in any way sarcastic or condescending, if you really did have that much difficulty working out the sign (as opposed to exaggerating here for effect) then a trip to the opticians might be in order. Eyesight deteriorates slowly and you often don't really notice it changing and the brain is very good at lying to you about what you think you can see. Eyesight changes throughout your life, your body only matures at about 25 years old, and then people start losing their ability to focus in their 40s - some even earlier, and there are numerous other factors that can affect your eyesight. You may find that if you have vision issues, then night time driving is especially difficult.

The reduce speed now signs are advisory only, often to denote other hazards in the road, not just speed limits. It may well be that the RSN sign on the other carriageway is a reflection of the carriageway camber or bend being worse in the other direction.
Jlc
The guidance for visibility of 40mph terminal signs from a 60mph limit is 95m. As already noted there is no requirement for other signage to warn of a change of limit. There is no process to 'appeal' - should you wish to challenge then you will have to reject the inevitable fixed penalty offer (3 points £100) and take the matter to court. You don't appear to have a defence from what we know thus far.

The fixed penalty is likely to be your best offer to dispose of the matter.

Perhaps post a Google Street View link of the location?
The Rookie
Consider if you really want to attend court and state that in the vision distance available you could only shed 5mph, bearing in mind the stopping distance in the Highway Code from 70mph is less than 100m including reaction time.
andy_foster
QUOTE (The Rookie @ Wed, 27 Aug 2014 - 14:46) *
Consider if you really want to attend court and state that in the vision distance available you could only shed 5mph, bearing in mind the stopping distance in the Highway Code from 70mph is less than 100m including reaction time.


The speed limit signage is either compliant or it isn't.
cjard
QUOTE (Spenny @ Wed, 27 Aug 2014 - 12:09) *
people start losing their ability to focus in their 40s - some even earlier


I'll second that, - I'm nowhere near forty and my partner complains constantly that I can't even focus long enough to have a conversation about who will do the washing up
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