Many, many moons ago, the State of Maryland had a slight problem with their driver’s training booklet that they handed out at the Motor Vehicle Administration. You see, a woman had been driving a little bit faster than the posted speed limit during rush hour, and she was subsequently pulled over by a police officer and issued a speeding ticket. Rather than accept it, she fought it.

On the surface, that speeding ticket seemed reasonable: she was speeding, no doubt, and she even admitted it. The real problem that day was that most everyone else was speeding, too, but she was the one who got the ticket. So how did she fight it? She went to court with the aforementioned driver’s training booklet and showed the judge the passage that said that you should “keep up with the flow of traffic.”

The woman had pointed out that she was merely doing as the MVA’s own booklet had suggested – she kept up with the flow of traffic – despite the fact that most everyone else was speeding. For that reason, she not only won her case, but it instigated a change in the driver’s training booklet to add the words, “while maintaining the posted speed limit.” Sometimes these changes are brought about through the creativity of finding a loophole that you can slither through. Good for her!

Have you ever seen a ticket issued with a 2 mph infraction on it?

Two Miles Per Hour Is Slower Than A Turtle

So now that we know it’s against the law in Maryland to drive faster than the posted speed limit, it astounds us that a Maryland driver is in the news again for not driving the posted speed limit. Only this time, she wasn’t speeding, she was allegedly driving a whopping two miles-per-hour slower than the posted speed limit. You read that right, she was cruising along Interstate 95 at 63 mph instead of the posted 65 mph speed limit, and Maryland State Police issued her a citation. We found out through a story on NBC Washington News4.

Even more shocking is the explanation provided by police, who, according to the article, stated she was driving in the left lane which is reserved for speedier commuters, and she should have moved right. They claim that the ticket was just, under a part of the code section that deals with driving 10 mph or more under the posted speed limit. However, the ticket clearly states that she was driving 63 in a 65 mph zone, which by our math is not “10 mph or more.” And if the limit is 65, shouldn’t that be the maximum speed that “speedier commuters” are traveling? Keep in mind that 2 mph is slower than the average speed of a turtle.

John Townsend of AAA is on the case to help out the woman cited for driving 2 mph under the speed limit.

Granted, we all hate to be blocked by slower drivers in the fast lane, and we all know the “slower traffic move right” slogan of speedier commuters everywhere, but to get a citation for 2 mph under is quite ridiculous. In neighboring Pennsylvania, commuters can get a ticket in some areas for driving in the left lane if they’re not overtaking another vehicle, but this is definitely a first. The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, has the local branch of AAA on her side, though, and John Townsend, of the Mid-Atlantic AAA, feels that the police are sending the wrong message – that they’ll tolerate driving above the posted speed limit but penalize those who drive a little slower.

So what message do you think this sends? Did she deserve a ticket or should she have received just a warning? Or should the officer be sent back through remedial math class, and taught that it’s a speed “limit” not a speed “minimum”? This could get ugly, but we want to know what you think about this.