Vermont Speeding Laws

Basic Speed Law: No person shall drive a vehicle at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions, having regard for the actual and potential hazards then existing.  VT Title 23 § 1081(a)

Penalty for Exceeding Speed Limit

A first time violator may be:

• fined not more than $175, and
• the violator’s license may be suspended 30 days.

Penalty for Reckless Driving

A first time violator may be:

• fined not more than $1000,
• sentenced to jail time of not more than 12 months, and
• the violator’s license may be suspended 30 days.

Speed Limits

• 50 MPH on any highway

Vermont Speeding Laws

Vermont 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 Vermont 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 Vermont 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.

Point System

An offender is subject to license suspension if they accumulate at least 10 points within a 2-year period.  The following suspension periods are imposed for the indicated point accumulations: 10 day suspension for 10 points; 30 days suspension for 15 points; 90 day suspension for 20 points. And, an additional 30 day suspension for each additional 5 points.

The following points have been assigned to speeding and speed related offenses: Violation of regulations governing speed on interstate highways-2 points; violation of basic speed rule and maximum speed limit-2 points; violation of slow moving vehicle law/driving at less than the normal speed of traffic and except in the right lane-2 points; violation of special speed limits-2 points; negligent vehicle operation-10 points; exceeding the posted State or local speed limit by less than 10 MPH-2 points; exceeding the posted State or local speed limit by more than 10 but less than 20 MPH-3 points; exceeding the posted State or local speed limit by more than 20 but less than 30 MPH-5 points; and, exceeding the posted State or local speed limit by more than 30 MPH-8 points.