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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    Default Texas Speeding Ticket - What's an "Urban District"

    My question involves a speeding ticket from the State of: Texas

    I received a citation for speed of 49 mph within a posted 35 mph zone within a municipality. The ticket was issued by a city police officer.

    I am considering the following argument and would like some feedback, please...

    The posted limit was 35 mph. There is no posted sign when entering the municipality of a limit that applies unless otherwise posted.

    I have reviewed the city ordinances regarding speed. They state "A speed limit of 30 miles per hour shall be effective immediately upon any street or highway not presently posted with appropriate signs." The ordinances go on to list particular stretches of road which have presumably undergone the prerequisite engineering and traffic investigation required by state statutes in order to post signs with speed limits other than described in the state statutes.

    The citation I received states that the violation occurred within the "1100 block of S. Kimball Ave." The city statutes state that 35 mph is the prima facie maximum reasonable and prudent speed for travel on Kimball Ave. from "Crooked Lane to S.H. 114 south to the city limits." The 1100 block of S. Kimball Ave. does not fall within this described portion of the road although signs are posted in this area.

    At this point, I am assuming that this means that the prerequisite study was not conducted for the stretch of roadway that I was traveling on. Even if it was, this stretch of roadway is not listed within the city ordinances as having a determined prima facie rate of speed.

    Therefore, either:
    1. The city "default" of 30 mph applies because the sign posted on this stretch of roadway is not appropriate. However, I do not believe that this overcomes the requirement of the Texas Statutes wherein the municipality must have done the appropriate survey in order to enforce the 30 mph limit. Therefore, the 30 mph is not enforceable.
    or
    2. The state prima facie speeds apply wherein the two speeds that may apply to this section of roadway are:
    a. 30 mph in an urban district on a street other than an alley...
    or
    b. 60 mph outside an urban district....

    The definition of "urban district" is "the territory adjacent to and including a highway, if the territory is improved with structures that are used for business, industry, or dwelling houses and are located at intervals of less than 100 feet for a distance of at least one-quarter mile on either side of the highway."

    On the stretch of roadway in which I was traveling there is absolutely no building that is within 100 feet of another. Therefore, if I understand the definition of "urban district" correctly, I was not traveling in an urban district. Therefore, the prima facie speed for this stretch of roadway is 60 mph.

    I was approaching a wide curve and could, arguably, need to adjust my speed due to the road conditions. However, 49 mph does not seem to be an unreasonable speed considering the prima facie speed and conditions.

    I'd appreciate feedback. Does my position seem sound? Are there any particular discovery requests I should consider making to support my position (other than evidence of the prerequisite engineering and traffic study)?

    Thanks in advance for any help offered!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    Default Re: Texas Speeding Ticket - Question About "Urban District"

    Quote Quoting mdfw
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    At this point, I am assuming that this means that the prerequisite study was not conducted for the stretch of roadway that I was traveling on.
    I wouldn't base my defense on an assumption. Why not request the survey/study and plan accordingly?

    Also, why not post the statute you were cited with as well as those you mentioned above so we can read the entire section instead of bits and pieces...

    In other words, do the statutes say that the posted limit must be justified by a survey/study AND be listed as part of an ordinance for it to be "valid"...
    OR
    that it only needs to be justified by a survey/study???

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    2

    Default Re: Texas Speeding Ticket - Question About "Urban District"

    The actual defense in court will not be based on assumptions. I'm simply looking for a way to build a solid defense at this point. The survey issue will be researched further.

    The citation itself does not state which statute I am being cited with. However, speed in Texas is governed by Texas Transportation Code §545.352, which can be found at http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.u...htm/TN.545.htm

    §545.356 of the Texas Transportation Code states that a city may lower the state-mandated speed limit by performing an engineering and traffic investigation and determining that the prima facie speed limit is unreasonable or unsafe
    for that road. Depending on how you read this, the municipality may not even have the authority to alter the prima facie speed limits for the road I was on.
    §545.356(a) applies to "a highway or part of a highway in the municipality, including a highway of the state highway system." When reading summaries of this law on other websites, "highway" tends to mean any road. The only definition for "highway" that I see in the transportation code is:
    "Highway" means a public highway that:
    (A) is in the designated state highway system;
    (B) is designated a controlled access facility; and
    (C) has a minimum of three travel lanes, excluding access or frontage roads, in each direction of traffic that may be part of a single roadway or may be separate roadways that are constructed as an upper and lower deck.

    The road I was traveling on does not meet any of these requirements.

    §545.356(b) applies to the same roadways, but seems to remove the requirement that the speed be altered by ordinance when the speed is being altered because of repair, construction, or maintenance.

    §545.356(b-1) is the closest match, but the road I was on is excluded by §545.356(b-2) because this road has four lanes for travel (2 lanes on each side).

    §545.356(c) requires signage.

    The citation was issued by the City of Southlake. Their ordinances can be found here:
    http://www.cityofsouthlake.com/SiteC...Code/ch018.pdf

    Article III governs speed. Sec. 18-79 of Article III details the particular sections of roadway that have prima facie speed limits set by city ordinance.

    The street I was on was Kimball Ave. south of Crooked Lane. When I read the ordinance yesterday, I understood it differently than I understand it today. The section of roadway is described as "Kimball Avenue from Crooked Lane to S.H. 114 south to the city limits." Yesterday, I was understanding this as "S.H. 114 south" referencing the highway, which is to the north of Crooked Lane...So I was reading this to mean Kimball Avenue from
    Crooked Lane to S.H. 114 south to the city limits (to the north). What I read this as today is the section of road between Crooked Lane and S.H. 114 (which references the most southern point first - causing the confusion) and then south from there to the city limits. If today's interpretation is accurate, then the ordinance actually does cover the section of land I was on and (at this point) making the assumption that the appropriate survey was done (to be verified), then it is more important to understand whether the city had the authority to alter the speed in the first place (545.356).

    Definition of "urban district" in §541.102:
    (3) "Urban district" means the territory adjacent to
    and including a highway, if the territory:
    (A) is not in a municipality; and
    (B) is improved with structures that are used for
    business, industry, or dwelling houses and located at intervals of
    less than 100 feet for a distance of at least one-quarter mile on
    either side of the highway.

    Definition of "highway or street" in §541.302:
    (5) "Highway or street" means the width between the
    boundary lines of a publicly maintained way any part of which is
    open to the public for vehicular travel.
    ***Note that the term "highway" is not listed separately....and within §545.356, the term used is "highway" rather than "highway or street."

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
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    19

    Default Re: Texas Speeding Ticket - Question About "Urban District"

    What's the definition of "public highway"

    Quote Quoting mdfw
    View Post
    §"Highway" means a public highway that:
    (A) is in the designated state highway system;
    (B) is designated a controlled access facility; and
    (C) has a minimum of three travel lanes, excluding access or frontage roads, in each direction of traffic that may be part of a single roadway or may be separate roadways that are constructed as an upper and lower deck."

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