Kansas Speeding Laws

Basic Speed Law: A person shall not operate a vehicle at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual hazards than existing.  KS § 8-1557

Penalty for Exceeding Speed Limit

A first time violator may be:

• fined not more than $500, 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 $25 and $500,
• sentenced to jail time of between five and 90 days, and
• the violator’s license may be suspended not more than one year

Speed Limits

• 70 MPH on multilaned highways as designated by the State Secretary
• 65 MPH on all other highways except a county or township highway  
• 55 MPH on a county or township highway 
• 30 MPH in an urban district 

Kansas Speeding Law

Kansas 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 Kansas 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 Kansas 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.