The State - News from March 21, 1985

A judge who ruled that the 55 m.p.h. speed limit is unconstitutional says the decision should not be regarded as permission to speed. “Unless they are confident of getting into my court,” drivers should stay under the limit, Monterey Municipal Judge William B. Burleigh said after dismissing a ticket issued to a Carmel Valley woman for driving 65 m.p.h. The judge declared the state’s speed law to be in violation of the U.S. Constitution because it was “enacted under federal coercion.” The judge said he does not think the 55 m.p.h. speed limit is undesirable. But, he added, “the state . . . must independently adopt the legislation without unlawful coercion by Congress.” In order for his ruling to have wider applicability, it would have to be appealed, and he said he does not know whether that will happen.