Mississippi Speeding Laws

Penalty for Exceeding Speed Limit

A first time violator may be:

• fined not more than $100,
• sentenced to jail time of not more than 10 days, and
• the violator’s license may be suspended (no period of time is specified).

Penalty for Reckless Driving

A first time violator may be:

• fined between $5 and $100, and
• the violator’s license may be suspended (no period of time is specified).

Speed Limits

• 70 MPH for private passenger vehicles or passenger buses on interstate highways or on U.S. designated highways with 4 or more lanes.
• 65 MPH for private passenger vehicles  or passenger buses on other highways.
• 60 MPH for trucks or truck-trailers on highways with 4 or more lanes
• 55 MPH for trucks or truck-trailers on other highways 

Mississippi Speeding Laws

Mississippi 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 Mississippi 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 Mississippi 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.