Iowa Speeding laws

Basic Speed Law: A person shall drive a motor vehicle at a careful and prudent speed not greater than nor less than is reasonable and proper, having due regard to the traffic, surface and width of the highway and of any other conditions than existing, and no person shall drive any vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than will permit the person to bring it to a stop within the assured clear distance ahead.  IOWA § 321.285 & 321.288

Penalty for Exceeding Speed Limit

A first time violator may be:

• fined between $50 and $100,
• sentenced to jail time of not more than 30 days, and
• the violator’s license may be suspended not more than one year.

Penalty for Reckless Driving

A first time violator may be:

• fined between $50 and $100,
• sentenced to jail time of not more than 30 days, and
• the violator’s license may be suspended not more than one year.

Speed Limits

• 65 MPH on controlled-access, multilaned highways including interstate
• 55 MPH on other highways or on surfaced secondary roads
• 45 MPH in suburban districts
• 45 MPH on roads under the control of the State Board of Regents
• 35 MPH on State parks and preserve roads
• 25 MPH in a residence or school district
• 20 MPH in a business district 

Iowa Speeding Law

Iowa has what is known as an “absolute” speed limit law. There is no trick to how this works: If the sign says 40 mph and you drive 41 mph or more, you have violated the law. In other words, you are guilty if you drive over the speed limit. In Iowa you may be able to make three possible defenses:

• Attacking the officer’s determination of your speed. To do this you must discover what method the officer used to cite you and then learn about the ways to attack that particular method.
• Claiming an emergency forced you to exceed the speed limit to avoid serious damage or injury to yourself or others.
• Claiming that the officer mistook your car for another car. With so many similar-looking cars, it is possible that a cop could see a speeding car, lose sight of it around a corner, and then wrongly pick out your car farther down the road.

Note that in Iowa you can be ticketed for driving at an unsafe speed, even if that speed does not violate the posted limit -- for example, driving exactly at the maximum mph posted limit on the freeway amidst slower and heavy traffic, in a dense fog, or in a driving rainstorm or blizzard.

Scheduled Violations

Most speed law violations are considered "scheduled violations" for which the following fines are provided. Except as noted, the fine schedule for speeding offenses is as follows:  (1) less than 5 MPH over the speed limit-$10; (2) more than 5 MPH but less than 10 MPH over the speed limit-$20;  (3) more than 10 MPH but less than 15 MPH over the speed limit-$30; (4) more than 15 MPH but ≤less than20 MPH over the speed limit-$40; (5) more than 20 MPH over the speed limit-$40 plus $2 for every MPH over the 20 MPH excessive speed.  '805.8(2)(g)(1) & (3) In speed zones with a speed limit more than 55 MPH, the fine schedule for speeding violations is as follows:  (1) less than 5 MPH over the speed limit-$10; (2) more than 5 MPH but less than 10 MPH over the speed limit-$20; (3) more than 10 MPH but less than 15 MPH over the speed limit-$40; (4) more than 15 MPH but less than 20 MPH over the speed limit-$60.