Good-faith mistake about speed limit on wide urban road

ATA/87/1998Court of Justice / Administrative ChamberFeb 10, 1998Modified

Extracted by Omnilex

Omnilex summary

The appellant drove at 82 km/h on a wide road within a 50 km/h zone. The court held that, in the circumstances, she could in good faith believe that the applicable limit was 80 km/h. The factual mistake was therefore excusable under Art. 16 LCR and affected the traffic sanction, which was modified accordingly.

Omnilex headnote

Art. 16 LCR; excusable mistake of fact in road traffic matters. A driver may rely on an error of fact where the objective circumstances of the road layout are such as to create a credible belief as to a different applicable speed limit. The relevant question is whether the mistake was understandable in light of the external appearance of the place and thus excusable; if so, the sanction cannot be maintained in the same form. The assessment is concrete and depends on the surrounding circumstances, in particular the character and width of the roadway (consid. not stated).

Full text

Descripteurs

CIRCULATION ROUTIERE; ERREUR SUR LES FAITS(EN GENERAL); EXCES DE VITESSE; AVERTISSEMENT(SANCTION); A L'INTERIEUR DES LOCALITES; LCR

Normes

LCR.16

Résumé

Malgré la limitation de la vitesse à 50 km/h, l'endroit où la recourante a circulé à 82 km/h est une large voie et la recourante a pu croire de bonne foi que la limite prescrite était de 80 km/h.

Keywords

road trafficspeedingmistake of factgood faithurban speed limitwarning sanction

Extracted by Omnilex

Key legal questions extracted by Omnilex

Key legal question

Whether the appellant could invoke a good-faith mistake of fact regarding the applicable speed limit under Art. 16 LCR.

Extracted holding

Yes. Given the character of the road as a wide thoroughfare, the appellant could in good faith assume that the applicable limit was 80 km/h rather than 50 km/h.

Extracted reasoning

The physical layout of the place could reasonably mislead a driver as to the posted urban speed restriction, so the factual mistake was excusable and could affect the sanction.

Good-faith mistake about speed limit on wide urban roadAI generated