Trego's Mountain Ear

Way back when I started driving, I listened to folks tell me that Montana had no speed limit. I eventually learned to just shut up and let them prattle. I knew Montana’s Basic Rule – and despite the fact that we now have speed limit signs, that rule is still enshrined in our traffic codes.

The basic rule, outlined in Montana Code Annotated 61-8-303, requires drivers to travel at a speed that is reasonable and prudent under existing conditions, considering factors like weather, visibility, traffic, and road conditions. Drivers can be cited for speeding even if they are below the posted limit if their speed is unsafe for the circumstances. https://legalclarity.org/montana-speeding-violations-laws-penalties-and-defenses/

It’s a good rule for writing tickets – if you leave the road, or hit another vehicle because it’s slick out, the cop can write ‘Basic Rule’ and you don’t have any argument to take into the JP’s court. Back in the old days, Montana’s speed limit was ‘reasonable and prudent’. I guess it still is, really – the posted limits just provide caps under good conditions.

I got a basic rule ticket years ago for my first really impressive car wreck. After I got in good enough shape to realize the A-frame had let go, I thought about arguing the ticket – but I realized that improper maintenance of a motor vehicle cost the same. Basic Rule is like Heller’s Catch 22 – it’s one heck of a rule that we still have in Montana.

I read of an accident a few miles up the creek – first on Facebook, then in the TVNews. It was an obvious spot to write a ticket for Basic Rule – when it’s really slick out, the Basic Rule violation occurs as you drive onto the highway. I recall driving back from Spokane, before Highway 37 was completed. There was an Idaho state trooper stopping traffic at the state line, and he accepted my argument – “I have studded tires and four wheel drive. I can handle it.” It took 13 hours to make it back to Trego – and that confident, erroneous phrase came back several times each hour. I think I violated the Basic Rule for 130 miles and half a day.