The state of North Dakota is one of the latest in the US to join the 80-mile-per-hour club. The maximum speed limit on its section of Interstate 94 will go up from 75 to 80 mph on August 1, following the passage of House Bill 1298, which was signed into law yesterday. However, the state isn’t merely raising the limit and calling it a day. HB 1298 also specifies higher fines and penalties for speeders statewide, whether they’re on the faster portion of road or not, so don’t gas up your Bugatti Tourbillon and head for North Dakota just yet.
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Simplicity Is Key For Interstate Travelers
Part of the reasoning behind raising speed limits, at least according to The Drive, is that neighboring states Montana and South Dakota already have 80-mph speed limits on portions of their interstate. The consistency could reduce confusion among drivers passing through North Dakota, although it’s important to note that the state still requires motorists to drive at a speed appropriate for conditions, meaning if its cold, snowy, rainy, or dark out, an officer might still be inclined to pull you over if you’re doing 80.
Top Speed Record Holders Through The Years
And if and when that happens, your fine is going to be bigger than it was before. HB 1298 calls for two revised penalty schedules, depending on the speed limit of the road where the infraction occurs. On roads with speed limits of 65 mph and above, the fine is $5 per mile an hour over, with a minimum of $20. Lower-limit streets will charge $3 per extra mph, with the same $20 minimum. Much more to the point, North Dakota will levy harsher fines on speeders in construction zones; prior to HB 1298, getting a ticket in a work area meant an $80 minimum, but as of August 1, the state will demand $150 plus any applicable speeding fines.
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The New Bill Succeeded Where Others Failed
According to the North Dakota Monitor, HB 1298 wasn’t the first attempt the state’s legislators made to raise the maximum speed limit on I-94. Back in 2023, then-Governor Doug Burgum vetoed an 80-mph bill, House Bill 1475, citing concerns over speed-related car accidents and increased crash severity, which ran counter to North Dakota’s goal of eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on its roads. In a letter vetoing the bill, Burgum suggested that a statewide primary seat belt law would be a better way to reduce crash-related deaths and struck down the bill accordingly.
However, just a few months later, North Dakota enacted just that – a stricter law than its existing secondary seat belt standard – meaning motorists could be pulled over and ticketed solely for not wearing the appropriate safety restraints, rather than pulled over for something else and then ticketed for improper seat belt use in addition. That, plus the revised speeding fines, seems to have made the revised 80-mph bill more attractive this time around, and Governor Kelly Armstrong signed it into law on May 5. Still, don’t use the speed limit as an excuse to blitz through North Dakota as quickly as possible; if you don’t stop at the alien-landscape Teddy Roosevelt National Park or get a pitchfork-fondue steak in Medora, you’re only selling yourself short.
Source: North Dakota Monitor and The Drive
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