OOLITIC – Members of the Oolitic Town Council voted on Thursday to seek quotes for the cost to have a traffic engineering study conducted in the town, a state requirement to enforce speed limits below 25 mile per hour in residential zones.
Previously, James Harrington, Oolitic Town Marshal, brought to the council’s attention that speed limits around the town of 20 mph were unenforceable by law enforcement, due to their lack of a traffic engineering study filed with the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Without a study on file, officers are required to follow state laws for speed limits, which state an unmarked urban zone is to be set at 30 mph, with residential zones at 25 mph, he said.
Additionally, Harrington said that in the event a driver is pulled over for speeding in an unenforceable zone, any evidence discovered after that point would likely be thrown out in court, because the officer knowingly pulled over the driver without legal basis to do so.
The council will now seek quotes to have a study conducted, as well as an anticipated timeframe for completion, to be presented at a future meeting.
