[Talk-us] Speed Limit Validity in US Questions

[Paul Johnson]

On Fri, Jul 2, 2021 at 1:41 PM Mark Wagner <mark+osm at carnildo.com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, 2 Jul 2021 09:19:41 -0700
> Clifford Snow <clifford at snowandsnow.us> wrote:
>
> > On Fri, Jul 2, 2021 at 9:13 AM Paul Johnson <baloo at ursamundi.org>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Oregon gets fun, since in absence of a posted speed limit, the type
> > > of road comes into play, with speed limits only posted if they're an
> > > exception to what's listed here:
> > > https://www.oregon.gov/odot/Engineering/Pages/Speed-Zones.aspx
> >
> >
> > Washington State is similar. There are a number of roads that have no
> > posted speed limit, except for signage usually at the border of the
> > city or county.
>
> At least on the east side of the state, if a road doesn't have a
> speed-limit sign, the controlling law is usually RCW 46.61.400(1)
> ("reasonable and prudent speed") rather than RCW 46.61.400(2) (default
> numeric speed limits).  If the county hasn't done an engineering survey
> to determine a safe speed, it's also unlikely that the road was
> constructed in a way that permits driving safely at 50 mph.

I don't think parts 1 and 2 are mutually exclusive, I'm pretty sure
it's a "whichever is lower" thing like the basic speed rule is
everywhere.