Speed limit sign - behavior of officer?

[Cheryn]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Happened in Louisiana

I've just been browsing various threads and remembered a situation where I was pulled over a few years back. I am just curious, not a current situation, so I hope it's ok to ask.

I was driving through a state park in Louisiana. The speed limit was not posted within the park itself or on entry signs that I was ever able to find. The road was 2 lanes, paved, and went through a wooded area with no traffic and no parking lots, nothing. There was a sign beside the road (which I barely noticed) that was a small square of wood with "15" painted on it, mounted to a wooden post. The sign was perhaps 6" square and mounted about 30 or 36" from the ground. I was driving at what I thought was a cautious 30 miles an hour.

A park ranger came up behind me with his lights on, so I pulled over. He spoke on the bullhorn for me to get out of the car and keep my hands where he could see them. I did, and was rather shocked to see he was behind his open vehicle door with a pistol pointed at me.

I was taken back to the ranger station, given a ticket for speeding 30 in a 15mph zone (I think I may have also been cited for careless and reckless), detained for about 2 hours while they ran my license, and eventually released but they insisted that my friend who was with me, who WAS UNLICENSED, drive my car. As soon as we exited the park, I had him let me drive again, since I'm sure my insurance wouldn't have covered him.

I found the whole incident bizarre. I was just curious of the legal ramifications, if any? (Someone else asked if a weapon was drawn when a poster asked about being ticketed.) Thanks.

 

[HighwayMan]

(I think I may have also been cited for careless and reckless)...

You think? Sounds like your recollection is pretty poor.

There could have been all kinds of things going on behind the scenes that you were not aware of. I'm not sure what you;re looking to find out, but whatever it is it seems to be a little late now.

 

[Cheryn]

You think? Sounds like your recollection is pretty poor.

There could have been all kinds of things going on behind the scenes that you were not aware of. I'm not sure what you;re looking to find out, but whatever it is it seems to be a little late now.

My apologies. Yes, I believe I was cited for both speeding and reckless driving. Frankly, if it had been of more recent occurrence, I would now be tempted to fight it, since I'm not sure such a sign to indicate speed is even legal/adequate? It looked more like a sign that might indicate a campsite number, though there were no campsites (or anything else) around. And except for the fact that I was technically going 15 miles over the speed limit (if such a sign in the middle of a forest can be called a speed limit sign) I certainly wasn't doing anything reckless. I've been driving for over 30 years and that is the only moving violation on my record.

As I mentioned in the original post, I was merely curious. Perhaps this forum does not allow for such things, and if I am out of line, please forgive me (as I requested in original post). My question was mostly inspired by reading an old post on the forum in which someone was pulled over and cited, and one of the forum members answering had asked about the behavior of the officers (who as in this case were acting as if they thought they had someone else, or something else was going on).

At any rate, thank you for your reply.

 

[HighwayMan]

Since we don't know what you were cited for I am going to speculate that perhaps it was a parks regulation violation which may not even appear on your driving record.

Since this is so old I wouldn't think that you could tell us what the actual charges were - meaning law and statute number.

 

[Cheryn]

Since we don't know what you were cited for I am going to speculate that perhaps it was a parks regulation violation which may not even appear on your driving record.

Since this is so old I wouldn't think that you could tell us what the actual charges were - meaning law and statute number.

You are correct that it was quite some time back. "A few years" was a bit of an understatement on my part, as I didn't think it mattered.

I do know I was cited for speeding and one other violation, which I believe was worded as "careless and reckless" due to the fact that I was going 15 miles over the speed limit (30 in a 15). I do not know the law and statute numbers, and yes, it did actually appear on my driver's license and even followed me when I renewed in another state. It has since dropped off.

Really, the main thing I would be curious about was whether such a sign was even legal notification. But I've read online since then and discovered that in some circumstances the signage is not even needed. Perhaps Louisiana had a "15 mph limit in state parks" law back then, which I simply didn't know about. I do find there are legal requirements for speed limit signs in terms of size, etc. but that seems to vary by state. I was merely curious.

After going over it in my mind, my guess on the officer's behavior was that there must have been someone else they were looking for. I certainly hope so, as driving 30mph through an isolated wooded area hardly seems like reason enough to pull a pistol on a citizen. And I am still baffled by the reason he insisted my unlicensed friend drive my car instead of me, but ... to be honest, I've lived in the south a long time and have experienced a lot of unusual behavior by some rural law enforcement officers based on my being female. (And if anyone wants to take that as a prejudiced comment, well, I don't care to argue it and think what you will - I've spent nearly 50 years seeing the good and the bad of the good ole' boy network up close and personal and that's just my opinion.)

Forgive me ... as I said, I was just curious. I read things that make me wonder, and I want to find the answers.