[mattlondon]

Same in the UK - a broken speedo would be an instant illegal get off of the road thing. afterall how do you know you are not breaking the speed limits?

I am not sure what you can get away with for DIY replacements - perhaps a police officer might give you the benefit of the doubt if you were polite and explained it was temporary while you are waiting for the real part, but I really suspect this would force your car off of the road at the next annual safety check/inspection (MOT test in the UK)

[tantalor]

> how do you know you are not breaking the speed limits

Drive a safe speed for the given road conditions. Match speed of other drivers. Not hard to do.

[mattlondon]

Often the limit is way lower than the "safe" speed - e.g. the variable speed limits on motorways restricting you to 40mph on an empty road in perfect daytime conditions, or the 15mph limit for London - both only exist to manage traffic flow and/or dissuade people from driving.

You're welcome to match other drivers - enjoy the speeding tickets you'll both get.

[userbinator]

afterall how do you know you are not breaking the speed limits?

Exceeding the speed limit is still illegal even in places where the lack of speedometer is not illegal --- they just don't care how you know your speed.

[sokoloff]

Exactly. I drove my Alfa Spider for over a decade with an unreliable speedo. I learned the multiplier for third and fifth gear from tach to speed, got a friendly town cop to verify it with his radar gun, and drove that car over 100K miles without ever being stopped for speeding.

[ur-whale]

>how do you know you are not breaking the speed limits?

The brainwash is thorough in this one.