Why You Shouldn’t Even Think Of Going Over 80 In North Dakota

Well, it's official, you can now officially go 80 miles per hour on most portions of Interstate 94 and Interstate 29 in North Dakota.

This speed increase will align North Dakota with our neighboring states of South Dakota and Montana.

With higher speed limits, the state is also going to up the fines for speed demons in North Dakota.

North Dakota has been a slacker when it comes to speeding fines compared to other states around us. Especially, Minnesota, where they really stick it to drivers with lead feet.

How will the fines for speeding change in North Dakota?

According to the Argus Leader, the fine for speeding on highways with a speed limit of 65 or more, which will include the new 80 mph speed limit on Interstates, will be $20 or $5 for each mile per hour over the limit, whichever is greater.

On other roads, it will be $20 or $3 for each mile per hour over the limit, whichever is greater.

If you really have the pedal to the metal, there is also an additional fine of $20 for violations of 16 miles per hour or more over the limit.

This means if you are really speeding, it could get significantly more expensive than it currently is. Let's say you are going 95 miles per hour in an 80 miles per hour zone. That would be a $75 fine ($5 times 15=$75).

If you were caught going 100 miles per hour. This would cost you $100 plus another $20 on top of that for a total of $120 ticket.

(There is an additional fine of $20 for violations of 16 mph or greater over the limit._

This is a jump from current fines, but still not as bad as what Minnesota will get you for.

Why you shouldn't even THINK about speeding on I-94 or I-29 in the coming weeks.

Because back when we raised the speed limit from 70 to 75 on the interstate highways in North Dakota last time around, you might remember that Highway Patrol officers were pulling people over for going even a few miles over the limit.

With the new system for fines, why take a chance? It's a good bet that Law Enforcement will be trying to set a precedent to discourage speeding over the new speed limit of 80 miles per hour.

This will likely loosen up after a month or two, but you can count on getting pulled over for going as little as 3 miles over the limit in the coming days. You have been warned!