Speeding - sign visible allowing higher speed, courtdate set on holiday

[staylegal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Mississippi

I received a speeding ticket via radar going 54 in a 45mph zone via radar. The sign indicating 45mph was several hundred yards back behind me. The sign indicating/allowing increased speed (55 mph) was about 40 to 50 yards from the radar set-up. On the ticket there is a blank for "At/Near" where the Officer wrote the name of the business located opposite across the street from the 55mph sign. In other words, I was much closer to the 55mph sign than the 45 mph sign. The officer wrote the court date of Nov 11 (Veteran's Day) on the ticket. 1. If I show up for court at the Police Station (the location of traffic court) on the holiday, and the judge is not there, can that be grounds for dismissal? That means I'll have to go back to court and provide evidence that I showed up as directed on the ticket but nobody else showed up.
2. Where does one speed zone stop and the other begin. If I provide pictures of the nearness of the 55 mph sign and diagrams indicating the location of the radar set-up in relation to the 45 mph sign (several hundred yards away and the 55 mph sign, about 40 yards away) will the pictures carry any weight. I can show pictures of the "At/Near" business from the ticket and demonstrate on the picture that the 55 mph sign is very close to the At/Near location written on the ticket. What is the law in this case. I was traveling though the 45 mph zone into the 55 mph zone. The 55 mph zone was visible from where I was clocked. In fact I pulled over immediately upon seeing the blu lights and wound up pulled over 20 yards from the 55 mph sign. I received one other speeding ticket 15 years ago. I am a professional and can speak clearly.
When I got this latest ticket I told the officer that I thought he was operating a speed trap. He asked me to step to the rear of my vehicle and showed me his camera and asked me did I want to say anything else. I repeated that he was operating a speed trap. In the course of the conversation, he threatened me with arrest telling me I was about two seconds from being "taken in". I asked him what I had done or said that was illegal. He advised that I was "holdi school on the side of the highway" Remember he was the one who had told me to step to the rear of my vehicle. He probably only issues tickets to out-of-towners - (I was passing thru.) Should I drive the 50 miles to court or am I wasting my time. The ticket is for $130.00. My thought are to probably just pay it. When I first entered the 45mph My wife warned me to slow down. I did to 45mph. I'm not so sure that the 54 clock by radar was legitimate. In other words, the I believe the officer to be less than honest and firmly believe he was setting up a speed trap in an area where there probably has not been an accident for several years. It's just a convenient spot to trap drivers from one zone to another. Thanks for any expertise.

[justalayman]

until such time you pass the sign that allowed a higher speed limit, the previous sign is in effect. PERIOD.

[IsabellaSoriano]

Originally Posted by justalayman

until such time you pass the sign that allowed a higher speed limit, the previous sign is in effect. PERIOD.

there was a perfect example of this scenario on the I5 the other day. the speed limit was 65 mph. then all of a sudden the speed was 55mph going downhill. for one mile. then it went back up to 65mph. i laughed. 3 cars were pulled over getting speeding tickets.

i was coming back from paying a speeding ticket i recieved. i've learned to use my cruise control since then.