Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

US Focus != Euro Focus.
Thank you. That is most certainly true.
Also, the current US Focus isn't cool, it's annoying. It's a dressed up and heavily-face-painted Mark I Euro Focus. We didn't get the Mark II as a Ford in the US. We are apparently going to be getting the Mark III at the same time you do.
Agreed. I couldn't get out of that thing fast enough. It's just nasty inside. The interior reminded me of my 1996 Civic. Maybe it handles well, but I'm going to spend most of my time staring at the crap bits, not "handling" it.
true, but the next one will be
Since she thinks the Fiesta is too small, and most of the other cool stuff Ford makes isn't available... this is sort of the only one left
May be too small. Haven't seen it, driven it, or measured it. :) No one else has a practical car in my family so if I want to be able to schlep stuff (and old people with wheelchairs and/or walkers) I have to be the one with the practical car, which sucks. I think the old people should be required to have practical cars.
 
Clearly the school itself is moving at 15mph.
 
so whats wrong with it?

Proper, standard-format speed limit signs in the US look like this:
btkm-speed-limit-sign.jpg


Proper, legal-format speed limit signs for school zones look like this:
school-zone.jpg

(well, actually there are several dozen variations that are legal and accepted, but they're all based around the general concept of the generic speed limit sign)

The sign I posted is just rubbish that some local council wanker special-ordered from the local sign company, not a meaningful and valid traffic control sign. This particular town uses a BUNCH of non-standard signs, usually having added their silly town crest to them, or changed colors or shit like that. For example, check out the yellow/crested road name sign in the background.
 
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Heh, that should be fun. Nowhere does the sign say 'speed limit.' It just mentions a speed and a place.
 
so whats wrong with it?

Clearly the school itself is moving at 15mph.

Yup.

It does not state that "15 miles per hour" is intended to be a speed limit, nor does it follow Federal law on speed limit signs.

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/25/2507.asp

Wisconsin Appeals Court Upholds Federal Speed Limit Sign Rules
Wisconsin Appeals Court ruling overturns speeding tickets based on federal speed limit sign regulations.

River Street speed limit signA Wisconsin Court of Appeals judge issued a ruling earlier this month in favor of a defendant who argued his speeding ticket was invalid because a municipality failed to comply with federal rules. Motorist John Klos said that he did not deserve a ticket for driving 37 MPH in a 25 MPH zone on River Street, the main road through the city of Spooner. Klos had measured every sign posted on that street and found each was either too short or too close to the curb, failing to meet national standards set by the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Under Wisconsin law, the speed limit is invalid if the signs are not posted in the correct position.

"On state trunk highways... speed limits specified [as 25 MPH zones] are not effective unless official signs giving notice thereof have been erected by the authority in charge of maintenance of the highway in question," Wisconsin Statutes Section 346.57 states.

The city countered Klos by saying that the speed limit signs were, in fact, properly posted according to Wisconsin standards. Municipal and circuit court judges agreed, ruling that federal rules did not apply to Spooner and that the city was well within its rights to issue citations even if the signs had "minor deviations" from federal standards. Appellate Judge Edward R. Brunner found that the lower courts misinterpreted state law, which explicitly incorporates the provisions of the federal manual.

"The city does not contend that Klos' measurements are inaccurate or that he has misinterpreted the federal manual," Brunner wrote. "Because the city has not refuted Klos' measurements or demonstrated how the measurements were inaccurate for the types of signs at issue, we reverse."

Although vindicated, Klos is disappointed that his case had to reach such a high court to be resolved properly. The city of Spooner will pay Klos $1200 to cover his filing fees and legal expenses in mounting the challenge on his own behalf.

"The whole thing was a waste of judicial and municipal resources," Klos told TheNewspaper.

Despite the ruling, Spooner has failed to update its speed limit signs. Klos suggested this could mean trouble for the city.

"Short of moving the signs to comply with the manual, speed violations shouldn't be issued along that road," Klos said. "I would think the city's exposing itself to some liability by willfully failing to install proper signs while instructing its officers to enforce a statute requiring official signs. Perhaps a good class action suit is deserved."

The Klos ruling contrasts with a January decision of the appeals court which found that speed limit warning signs do not need to be visible near the location of an alleged offense (view opinion). A full copy of the Klos decision is available in a 100k PDF file at the source link below.

Source: PDF File City of Spooner v. Klos (Court of Appeals, State of Wisconsin, 8/5/2008)

The Federal Manual referenced above is available online: http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/

The specific sections that this sign violates:

http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/SHSe/Regulatory.pdf
http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/SHSe/School.pdf

The evident age of the sign tells me that this is probably deliberately left in place as a revenue generating speed trap. The face is gray with age and rust, any retroreflective properties the paint had are long gone and it is apparently is a shaded location that's hard to see. Retroreflective signs (and license plates) are supposed to be replaced at intervals. This one hasn't been.
 
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or just so cheesy it is already rusting :lol:
 
I'm pretty sure you don't get road salt at all in that town. Gravel and sand only, as with most PA townships and small cities.
 
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Flying salt? It has evolved.
 
I'm pretty sure you don't get road salt at all in that town. Gravel only, as with most PA townships and small cities.

So that explains why there's a surprising number of pristine Mk1 Toyota MR2s in small-town PA.
 
SNIP

The sign I posted is just rubbish that some local council wanker special-ordered from the local sign company, not a meaningful and valid traffic control sign. This particular town uses a BUNCH of non-standard signs, usually having added their silly town crest to them, or changed colors or shit like that. For example, check out the yellow/crested road name sign in the background.

The road name sign is fine, tacky yes but I don't think they're regulated, but you're absolutely right on the speed limit one. That's total crap. They'd better let you off that one. Hopefully you get some kind of county/district court and not the same local judge that was appointed by the idiot that bought the stupid sign.
 
well in my opinion.. so what if the sign is not marked spot on according the law book.. its a school area and has 15 miles on it.. common sense should tell thats the speed limit.

Dont get me wrong, I am pro standards for the markings but still.. And if you got caught speeding gut it up and pay.. IMO

And if it is left unattended and to rust it isnt always because they are after your money.. maybe its because they dont have money for fixing it.. or it isnt in their knowledge that it is in bad shape.
 
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