Speed limit

A speed limit is the maximum speed allowed by law for vehicles on a road. (Also, an axiom of Einstein's relativity theories states that the speed limit of the Universe is the speed of light in a vacuum, i.e., 299,792,458 metres per second.)

Speed limits in specific countries

Australia

Speed limits in Australia range from 40 km/h (25 mph) to 110 km/h (70 mph) at 10 km/h intervals. Generally:

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• School zones are 40 km/h (25 mph) during school hours, except in South Australia, where they are 25 km/h (15 mph). This speed limit is also enforced in some shopping precincts.
• Suburban roads are 50 km/h (30 mph) in most states.
• Major suburban routes are 60 km/h (40 mph).
• Major connector roads and smaller highways are 80 km/h (50 mph).
• Highways and freeways are 100 km/h (65 mph).
• National highway routes are 100 or 110 km/h (65–70 mph).

Some states do not have 50 km/h zones, and those that do have only introduced them in recent years.

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It is not uncommon to see 70 km/h and 90 km/h limits on some roads, where a higher limit is deemed too dangerous, yet a lower limit is unreasonable for the traffic.

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The Northern Territory is an exception, as there is no speed limit on the highways.

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Speed traps are used in almost all areas of the country. Tolerance is from 8% to 10% in most states but only 3 km/h in Victoria, an issue which has caused a lot of controversy.

Related Topics:
Speed trap - Victoria

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Canada

Typical speed limits are:

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• 30–50 km/h (20–30 mph) within school and playground zones
• 40–50 km/h (25–30 mph) on residential streets within cities and towns
• 60–70 km/h (35–45 mph) on major arterial roads in urban and suburban areas
• 80–100 km/h (50–65 mph) on highways outside of cities and towns and urban expressways
• 100–110 km/h (65–70 mph) on freeways and rural expressways

Note that where more than one limit is given per road, it usually indicates a difference between provinces. However, within provinces, different roads of the same classification may have different speed limits. For example, in Alberta, some freeways have a limit of 100 km/h, while others have a speed limit of 110 km/h, but in Ontario, all freeways have a speed limit of 100 km/h unless posted as lower. Speed limits are generally lower in Ontario and Quebec on comparable roads than in other Canadian provinces. An example being rural, two-lane highways in Ontario having a standard speed limit of 80km/h, while comparable roads in other provinces having standard speed limits of 90–100km/h. In general Canadian speed limits are much lower than on comparable roads in Europe or the U.S. Also, note that these speed limits are reduced by varying amounts within construction zones.

Related Topics:
Alberta - Ontario

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China

Previously, all expressways in the People's Republic of China were limited to a maximum speed limit of 110 km/h (70 mph). With the passage of the PRC's first road-related law, the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, speed limits were raised nationwide to 120 km/h (75 mph) as of May 1, 2004; however, the updating of signs (if and when it becomes complete) will still take some time.

Related Topics:
Expressways - People's Republic of China - Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China - May 1 - 2004

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Semi-expressways and city express routes (uniquely called kuaisu gonglu 快速公路 in Chinese, meaning "fast public road") generally have lower speed limits topping out at around 100 km/h (65 mph), and in some cases, the speed limit may be lower.

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On China National Highways (which are not expressways), a common speed limit is 80 km/h (50 mph). In localities, speed limits may drop to 40 km/h (25 mph). In reality, few people drive according to the speed limits, and on some roads, enforcement cameras are nearly non-existent.

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On some designated "fast through routes" in cities, speed limits can go all the way up to 80 km/h (50 mph). Otherwise, speed limits remain 70 km/h (45 mph) on roads with two uninterrupted yellow lines and 60 km/h (40 mph) or even 50 km/h (30 mph) otherwise. Signage in towns and on expressways is often present.

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Minimum speed limits on expressways vary. A general minimum speed limit of 60 km/h (40 mph) is in force at all times (although traffic jams more than thwart it). According to law, the overtaking lane has a minimum speed limit of 110 km/h (70 mph), and a second lane often has a minimum speed limit of 90–100 km/h (55–65 mph). (The second lane, though, should only be set a minimum speed limit if third, fourth, and subsequent lanes exist.)

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Europe

Table

See following table for the speed limits in European states:

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Unit: km/h (mph in parenthesis)

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*Motor routes: Roads with two or more lanes (dual carriageway), a median, and a minimum speed of 60 km/h (40 mph).

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Remarks:

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1 130 (80) is the recommended maximum speed on motorways as indicated by a blue sign. Many sections of the German motorway network are now also covered by enforcable speed limits, usually ranging from 80 to 120 km/h depending on local conditions. It is usual for drivers involved in crashes who were exceeding the 'recommended' speed limit to be held to be at least partly at fault, regardless of the circumstances of the crash.

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2 For motorcycles 110 (70).

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3 Two-lane expressways: 130 (80); three-lane expressway: 150 (95) (since 2003, the speed limit of 150 km/h (95 mph) is only valid when signed).

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4 Automobile with weighty trailer: 80 (50); Truck with weighty trailer: 70 (45).

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5 Automobile with weighty trailer: 100 (65); Truck with weighty trailer: 80 (50).

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6 During the winter months, when conditions are often bad, all Finnish motorways have a speed limit of 100 km/h (65 mph) or less.

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7 Need to be licensed from the German Technical Inspection Authority (TÜV).

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8 Effective January 20, 2005

Related Topics:
January 20 - 2005

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9 A provisional increase of the speed limit on motorways from 90 to 100 km/h was made permanent when it turned out the number of accidents decreased.

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10Signs are posted in miles per hour, a situation unlikely to change in the near future.

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In most European states there is a general speed limit of 50 km/h (30 mph) inside towns.

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Comments

The first British motorways did not have imposed speed limits. However, after a series of horrendous crashes, a supposedly temporary speed limit of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h) was enforced. The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Association of British Drivers have called for the limit to be increased. The Conservative Party are now proposing to raise the limit to 80 miles per hour (130 km/h), but it remains unclear whether this proposal will eventually become law.

Related Topics:
Motorway - Scotland - Conservative Party

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On French autoroutes, there is a variable speed limit. In dry weather an autoroute has a speed limit of 130 km/h (80 mph), where when raining the speed limit is reduced to 110 km/h (70 mph). In 2005, a governmental report advised lowering this speed to 115 km/h in order to save fuel and reduce accident risks, but this proposal was badly received. Since 2002, the French government has installed a number of automatic radar guns on freeways, highways and other major thoroughfare, in addition to radars manned by the Police or Gendarmerie.

Related Topics:
Autoroute - Fuel - Radar gun - Police - Gendarmerie

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The German Autobahns are famous for not having speed limits for cars except where indicated by traffic signs. Blanket speed limits do apply for trucks, buses and cars pulling trailers. Speeds over 200 km/h (125 mph) are not uncommon, but there is a recommended speed (in German: "Richtgeschwindigkeit") of 130 km/h (80 mph). In case of a crash, insurance payments can be dropped by exceeding the recommended speed. Some areas have compulsory speed limits to reduce the noise cars produce when driving through residential areas. Many car manufacturers (including Mercedes, BMW and Audi) limit the speed of their cars electronically to 250 km/h (155 mph); this is only a gentlemen's agreement, not a legal requirement.

Related Topics:
Autobahn - Gentlemen's agreement

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The Italian Autostradas have a 130 km/h (80 mph) speed limit, with 110 km/h (70 mph) limits on curvy roads and in rainy conditions and 150 km/h (95 mph) limits on newer and straighter roads.

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Swiss Autobahns are limited to 120 km/h (75 mph) as a maximum speed limit. Semi-motorways, known as "motor roads" or Autostrasse, have a generally lower speed limit of 100 km/h (65 mph).

Related Topics:
Autobahn - Autostrasse

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New Zealand

Speed limits in New Zealand range from 20 km/h to 100 km/h. Specifically:

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• 20 km/h (10 mph) past school buses and accident sites
• 30 km/h (20 mph) past roadworks
• 50 km/h (30 mph) in most urban areas
• 60 km/h (40 mph) for many city arterial routes
• 70 km/h or 80 km/h (45–50 mph) on highways through built-up areas, or on dangerous or older roads.
• 100 km/h (65 mph) on expressways and highways

Some vehicles are restricted to lower speeds:

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• 90 km/h (55 mph) for trucks and vehicles with trailers
• 80 km/h (50 mph) for school buses
• 70 km/h (45 mph) for motorcyclists with learner licences

United States

On Interstate highways in the United States, speed limits range from urban limits as low as 40 mph (65 km/h) to rural limits as high as 75 mph (120 km/h). Before the 1973 energy crisis, some states posted no speed limit on Interstate highways. At one time Kansas had an 80 mph (130 km/h) speed limit on its turnpike system. In 1974 Congress imposed a nationwide 55 mph (90 km/h) speed limit by threatening to withhold highway funds from states that did not adopt this limit. It was estimated a speed of 55 mph used 17% less fuel per mile than a speed of 75 mph (120 km/h). It was also believed, based on a noticeable drop the first year the limit was imposed, that it cut down on highway deaths, but later studies were more mixed on this point. This limit was unpopular, especially in Western states. In 1987 states were permitted to raise speed limits to 65 mph (105 km/h) on rural Interstate highways.

Related Topics:
Interstate highway - United States - 1973 energy crisis

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All federal speed limit controls were lifted on November 28, 1995, leaving the task of setting maximum speeds to the states. Immediately, Montana reverted to non-numerical speed limits on most rural highways. Many other states reverted to older policies allowing speed limits higher than 65 mph (105 km/h). However, no Interstate highway, freeway, or expressway is currently signed for over 75 mph (120 km/h), and within major city limits, few freeways have speed limits over 65 mph (105 km/h).

Related Topics:
November 28 - 1995 - Montana - Freeway - Expressway

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California

In California many speed limit signs are identified as "Maximum Speed", usually when the limit is 55 mph (90 km/h) or more.

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Kansas

The Kansas Turnpike used to have an 80 mph speed limit. No Kansas road currently has a speed limit higher than 70 mph.

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Montana

It is a myth that Montana had no speed limit. In fact, for four years, it had a "reasonable and prudent" speed limit during the daytime on most rural roads. At night, these roads had a night speed limit, usually 65 MPH or 55 MPH, depending on road type. In some cases, the police enforced an approximately 90 mph (140 km/h) speed limit as "reasonable and prudent."

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In a challenge to a speeding ticket, the "reasonable and prudent" laws was found to be too vague to be constitutional. Thus, for most of the first half of 1999, there was no speed limit whatsoever on most rural Montana roads.

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In June 1999, a new Montana speed limit law went into effect. The law's practical effect was to require posted limits on all roads and disallow any speed limit higher than 75 mph (120 km/h).

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Texas

Texas is the only state whose speed limit laws and rules generally do not prescribe a specific limit for each type of roadway. Any rural road—two lane, four lane, Interstate, or otherwise—that is numbered by the state or federal government has a 70 mph (110 km/h) statutory limithttp://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/TN/content/htm/tn.007.00.000545.00.htm#545.352.00. The law generally allows changing the 70 mph limit only if a study recommends a different limithttp://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/TN/content/htm/tn.007.00.000545.00.htm#545.353.00.

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75 mph and 80 mph limits

In 2001, the Texas Legislature allowed the Texas Department of Transportation to post 75 mph (120 km/h) speed limits in counties with fewer than 10 people per square milehttp://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/tlo/textframe.cmd?LEG=77&SESS=R&CHAMBER=H&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=00299&VERSION=5&TYPE=B. This has the practical effect of only allowing 75 mph speed limits in the most sparsely populated counties, all of which are generally well west of a line stretching from San Antonio to Odessa. In 2005, the Texas Legislature revised this law, allowing 80 mph (130 km/h) limits on I-10 and I-20 in certain rural counties in west Texashttp://www.capitol.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/tlo/textframe.cmd?LEG=79&SESS=R&CHAMBER=H&BILLTYPE=B&BILLSUFFIX=02257&VERSION=5&TYPE=B. This law also revised the eligibility for 75 mph speed limits: now eligible counties can have up to 15 persons per square mile.

Related Topics:
Texas Legislature - Texas Department of Transportation - San Antonio - Odessa

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Texas law does not disallow 75 mph speed limits on two-lane roads. Several west Texas 2 lane roads carry 75 mph limits, including portions of US 90http://www.houstonfreeways.com/modern/2005-01_road_trip_us90.aspx. No other state has a limit higher than 70 mph on any 2 lane road.

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Environmental speed limits

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Texas is the first state to lower speed limits for purportedly environmental reasons since the 1995 repeal of federal speed limit controls. In roughly a 50-mile (80 km) radius of the Houston-Galveston and Dallas-Ft. Worth regions, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality co-opted the Texas Department of Transportation to reduce the speed limit on all roads with 70 mph (110 km/h) or 65 mph (100 km/h) speed limits by 5 mphhttp://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/oprd/sips/speedlimit.html. This was instituted as part of a plan to reduce smog-forming emissions in areas out of compliance with the federal Clean Air Act.http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/implementation/air/sip/speedlimit.html

Related Topics:
Houston - Galveston - Dallas - Ft. Worth - Texas Commission on Environmental Quality - Clean Air Act

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Initial studies suggested the lower speed limits could bring the areas roughly 1.5% closer to compliancehttp://people.smu.edu/acambre/esl-nctcog.htm. However, follow-up studies suggest that the actual benefit is only a fraction of this original estimate. First, the emissions modeling software used for intitial estimations, MOBILE 5a, overestimated the emissions contribution of speed limit reductions. Rerunning the models with the next generation software, MOBILE 6, produced dramatically lower emissions reductions. Second, speed checks in the Dallas area performed 1 year after implementation of speed limit reductions show that actual speed reductions are only about 1.6 MPH, a fraction of the anticipated 5.5 MPH speed reduction. With both of these facts combined, it is possible that the speed limit reductions only provide a thousandth of the total emissions reductions necessary for Clean Air Act compliance.http://people.smu.edu/acambre/eslEPA102402.htm

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The Houston-Galveston area briefly had all roadways capped at 55 mph (90 km/h) in mid-2002http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/oprd/sips/dec2000hga.html. Facing immense oppositionhttp://www.ghasp.org/publications/55chronicle.htmlhttp://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=1097, poor compliancehttp://tti.tamu.edu/cts/cts/organization/policy_initiatives_analysis/projects/pid_houston.stm, and the realization that lowered speed limits produced only a fraction of the originally estimated emissions reductionshttp://yosemite1.epa.gov/r6/press.nsf/0/b7d1c1828ed43ff586256c67005d51c4?OpenDocument, the TCEQ relented and reverted to the 5 mph reduction schemehttp://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/oprd/sips/dec2002hga.html.

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In 2003, the Texas Legislature prospectively banned environmental speed limits effective September 1, 2003. The wording of the bill allows environmental speed limits already in place to remain indefinitely; no new miles of roadway may be subjected to environmental speed limits, howeverhttp://www.dfwinfo.com/trans/env_speed_limits/.

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This law has allowed interesting inconsistencies. Generally, all primary arterial roadways within the inner loops of Texas cities have speed limits of 60 mph (95 km/h) or lower, so they were not subjected to environmental speed limits. Arterial roads between the inner loop and the outer loop generally have 65 mph (100 km/h) limits, and arterial roads outside the outer loop generally have 70 mph (110 km/h) limits. (Note that this "standard" is only an observed pattern. It is not prescribed by law.) In at least one case—TX 121 between I-35W and I-820 in Ft. Worth—the speed limit rises from 60 mph to 65 mph as one crosses IH-820 approaching downtownhttp://people.smu.edu/acambre/blog/PermaLink,guid,bdf9eca2-5fc4-430d-9721-b7426671e58a.aspx, contravening the standard.

Related Topics:
Arterial - TX 121 - I-35W - I-820

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Night speed limits

Texas is the only state with a broadly applicable night speed limit. Texas statutorily prescribes a blanket 65 mph (100 km/h) night speed limit on roads with a speed limit of at least 70 mph (110 km/h)http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/docs/TN/content/htm/tn.007.00.000545.00.htm#545.352.00. While the Texas Department of Transportation has the power to raise or lower this night speed limit, it in fact rarely does, so nearly every 70 mph or higher speed limit sign has an accompanying 65 mph night speed limit sign.

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North Dakota, Montanahttp://www.opi.state.mt.us/pdf/drivered/manual/ch4.pdf, and Oklahoma also have night speed limits, but they are only generally applicable to rural, non-Interstate-class roads.

Related Topics:
North Dakota - Montana - Oklahoma

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Minimum speeds

In addition to the legally defined maximum speed, minimum speeds may be posted. There is little evidence to suggest they are enforced. In California, the minimum speed by regulation on freeways (in free flowing traffic) is 45 mph, although this is generally not posted.

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In general

On US roads, the speed limits are usually as follows:

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• 15–25 mph (25–40 km/h) in school zones
• 25–30 mph (40–50 km/h) on residential streets in cities and towns
• 35–45 mph (55–70 km/h) on major arterial roads in urban and suburban areas
• 45–70 mph (70–110 km/h) on highways outside cities and towns and urban expressways
• 55–70 mph (90–110 km/h) on non-Interstate freeways and rural expressways.
• 65–75 mph (105–120 km/h) on rural Interstate freeways

Generally, western states have higher limits than eastern states.

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For a current listing of all U.S. State Highway Speed Limits click on Speed Limits by State, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

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