Ordinarily I'd agree, and the law here does in fact include that little "not to exceed the posted limit" clause. Real life works a little differently in IL, however:
1. I've heard the go-with-the-flow defense given by a defendant, and he got the same "lemming" response. I've also heard that same defense given by an attorney. Changes everything. It also changes depending on how you act toward the judge; almost every kid, after getting his/her first speeding ticket, will insist they were "just going as fast as everyone else" (I used it myself when I was 16
) and judges get tired of it being a boilerplate response. They also get tired of those who come in and try to explain the law to them, those who act as if the judge should be honored in his/her presence, etc. If you're that person, or you're up right after that person, you will likely get a literal interpretation of pretty much everything.
Over time, I've come to the conclusion that it all depends on the judge. They're aware that it costs you more to appeal than it does to just take the fine, so if you get one who shot over par last weekend, your day won't end well.
2. There is, in fact, a law on the books here which determines you to be obstructing traffic if you're driving too slow. This doesn't help if the person driving too slow isn't pulled over (though people have; see
http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/lo...-65.html?yhp=1), and you're not likely to prove anything to a judge with your knowledge of it, but for the record if you're driving significantly slower than everyone else thereby impeding traffic, you're still the problem. That speed will be just as arbitrary as the going-with-the-flow speed, which brings me to
3. "Under 9, you're doing fine. Over 9, your a** is mine." Most of the time, unless the cop is
really bored, he/she doesn't want to get out of the car. If you don't get stopped in the first place, you don't have to explain anything to the judge.
Following this rule on an IL interstate will often result in the cop passing you. Note: I'm basing a lot of this on highway/interstate travel, where the accidents get a lot more painful. Surface streets have rules which can change by local jurisdiction and no one should really be going that fast there anyway so I won't get into that.
I'm not a lawyer, I don't play one on TV, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night. However, my last speeding ticket (second of 2) was in 1990, when I was 19. The bottom line is, in almost every state (and certainly in IL
), the law says slower traffic keep right, and I've seen no room for ambiguity on that.