Driving below or above the limit ticketable in SC

[bp7178]

From the article...

Spartanburg County Circuit Court Judge Roger L. Couch ruled that driving just 5 MPH under the speed limit, not in the fast lane, is suspicious enough to justify a traffic stop. South Carolina's second highest court on October 5 examined the case, but sidestepped the speed issue to decide whether a man could be convicted of marijuana possession simply because he was in a car that contained the drug.

The sidestepping is the key, and the reporter, who is probably an idiot is focused on the wrong part of the decision.

More text on the case...

http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2011/sc-slowgo.asp

It appears the officer was attempting to run intradiction style stops on the interstate, and found a good one being that both occupants were charged with possession with intent to distribute.

The important issue before the courts was that constructive possession was not enough, but that the state would have needed to prove the controlled substance was knowingly possessed, either by direct statement or some type of gesture etc.

The court glazed over the speed thing to examine and rule on constructive possession. In actual practice, the decision makes it harder to convict on constructive possession.

Most of the time some reporter latches onto one of these decisions and completley misses the point and writes an article which in no way has shit to do with what was being decided. This was one of those times.

But to the speed issue, the decision say this...

The trial court found section 56-5-1560 of the South Carolina Code (2006) does not reference speed limits and states that no person should drive a vehicle at such a slow speed to impede the normal and reasonable flow of traffic. The trial court noted the testimony was that the vehicle was traveling in the center lane with a long line of traffic behind it and being passed on both sides. The trial court found the officer had probable cause to stop the car based on the statute.

Thats how you get to impeding. Not that he was driving too slow, but that he was driving slower than the pace of traffic causing vehicles to back up behind him and to be frequently passed on both sides.

[An Undocumented Worker]

Interesting...I'm always on edge driving through SC (and Georgia with the exception of Atlanta for that matter) and keep it to 5mph over at the most. Not sure why I've had that paranoia about SC...

In Georgia you are generally safe so long as you are not exceeding the speed limit by more than 10mph.

Here is the actual text of the law pertaining to that statement.

TITLE 40. MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC
CHAPTER 14. USE OF SPEED DETECTION AND TRAFFIC-CONTROL SIGNAL MONITORING DEVICES
ARTICLE 2. SPEED DETECTION DEVICES



O.C.G.A. § 40-14-8 (2011)

§ 40-14-8. When case may be made and conviction had


(a) No county, city, or campus officer shall be allowed to make a case based on the use of any speed detection device, unless the speed of the vehicle exceeds the posted speed limit by more than ten miles per hour and no conviction shall be had thereon unless such speed is more than ten miles per hour above the posted speed limit.

(b) The limitations contained in subsection (a) of this Code section shall not apply in properly marked school zones one hour before, during, and one hour after the normal hours of school operation, in properly marked historic districts, and in properly marked residential zones. For purposes of this chapter, thoroughfares with speed limits of 35 miles per hour or more shall not be considered residential districts. For purposes of this Code section, the term "historic district" means a historic district as defined in paragraph (5) of Code Section 44-10-22 and which is listed on the Georgia Register of Historic Places or as defined by ordinance adopted pursuant to a local constitutional amendment.

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