Sorry, you may have the right to use the roads on foot-using a bicycle, but in CA, where the violation occurred, it is a REVOKABLE PRIVILEGE to drive a motor vehicle on the roads. Get enough negligent driver points, the license can be suspended, get enough beyond that, and it can be revoked.
The written law is the California Basic Speed Law--Palo Alto is in CA. The driver in question, if he insisted on speeding, should have been smart enough to be on the lookout for cops, or even better, probably should have reduced speed.
And since there are insufficient cops on the road to cite all the violators, they probably have to pick just one--probably either the lead car or the fastest car.
Again, if the drivers insist on speeding, they also should accept that they may very well be held accountable for their speed violations.
No, actually it's speed at your own risk, and accept responsibility for the speed violations if and when pulled over and subsequently cited for them. It really is as simple as that.
The speed limit signs, regardless of what popular opinion may think about them being "underposted", still govern the maximum LEGAL speed of the road in tandem with the California Basic Speed Law.
