If you drive 55 mph in a 55 mph zone, you can be given a speeding ticket:
- Under no circumstances because it is always legal.
- If the road or weather conditions require a slower speed. ✓
- Only if you are approaching a sharp curve in the road.
Answer: B. If the road or weather conditions require a slower speed.
You can get a speeding ticket even at 55 mph in a 55 mph zone if the road or weather conditions require you to drive slower.
Why this is the answer
The handbook's Basic Speed Law says you may never drive faster than is safe for the current road conditions, no matter what sign is posted. It lists road surface, weather, traffic, bicyclists, and pedestrians as things that should shape your speed. A separate passage adds that you must slow down in heavy traffic or bad weather and that driving faster or slower than the limit can get you cited. So the posted number is a ceiling only when conditions allow it; if conditions call for less, 55 can still be too fast.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Under no circumstances because it is always legal. — The posted limit does not make 55 mph automatically legal; the Basic Speed Law still requires a speed safe for current conditions.
- C. Only if you are approaching a sharp curve in the road. — A sharp curve is not the only reason to slow down; the handbook lists weather, road surface, traffic, and people on or near the road as conditions that can require a lower speed.
Remember it
Treat the posted limit as a maximum for good conditions, not a green light to keep that speed when the road says otherwise.