Arizona is at it again. This time, government intrusion is taking the form of what are known as safety corridors. 63 miles of freeway in AZ are getting this designation with officers promising to pull anyone over for any minor traffic violation including going even 1 mile over the posted speed limit. The speeding statutes in Arizona recognize that speeds naturally fluctuate on busy streets. That is why ARS 28-701 reads in relevant part that “A person shall not drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the circumstances”. Notice that the statute doesn’t say, “A person shall not exceed theposted speed”. The posted speed is guidance in Arizona and a Judge could find that a person exceeding the maximum speed is going a speed that is greater than reasonable and prudent.
There is no legal basis for a zero-tolerance safety corridor, which leads us to analyze with some scrutiny the need for and the purpose of these new fangled zones on Arizona’s highway. ADOT claims that the goal is to increase enforcement and make the freeways safer, but why would pulling someone going 1 mph over the speed limit help make the streetssafer? Sceptics might claim that these zones have been set up to help further erode the citizens of Arizona’s fourth amendment rights. The right to be free from illegal search and seizure just unequivocally became more eroded for driver’s driving on Arizona freeways in these zones. We at the Rosenstein Law Group, PLLC have yet to determine what exactly is the purpose these zones, but rest assured we are viewing them skeptically. If they turn out to be another Government over reach and simply there to help officers pull over any driver that they want so that they can demand answers from them,then we will be fighting back and protecting the rights and freedoms of Arizonians to drive on the freeways at reasonable and prudent speeds.
