Is Your Neighborhood’s 17 MPH Speed Limit Enforceable?

I was out for a run the other day when I saw signs posted on a private pathway advising me not to exceed 7.5 miles per hour since children were playing. Sadly for my split times (but happily for the children at play), I was in no danger of exceeding this limit. Those signs reminded me, however, of a question that I’m asked from time to time: Are the speed limits posted on private subdivision streets enforceable? Many subdivisions consisting of private roadways have these signs, and they often admonish drivers not to exceed a very specific speed that is not a multiple of five, such as 17 miles per hour. But so long as the subdivision roads remain privately owned and are not dedicated to a municipality, driving in excess of these specific speed limits is not a speeding infraction. Why not? G.S. 20-141(b) makes it unlawful to drive in excess of the following speeds: 35 miles per hour inside municipal limits and 55 miles per hour outside municipal limits. The subsection does not specify the types of roadways to which it applies, but related provisions of G.S. 20-141 make clear that these limitations apply only on streets or highways, which are roadways open to the public as a matter of right. G.S. 20-4.01(13), (46). G.S. 20-141(e) permits local authorities, which include a county, municipality, or other territorial district with a local board or body that is authorized to adopt local police regulations, to adopt ordinances authorizing higher or lower [...]