Speed Limits – U.S. and Canada

Speed Limits in Canada

If you are an American and see a speed limit of “100” while traveling in Canada, that doesn’t mean you can go 100 miles/hour. This means 100 kilometers/hour, and translates to just a bit more than 60 mph. In general, you can convert from km/h to mph by dividing the speed in km/h by 1.6.

Kilometers per hour	Miles per hour
40	25
50	31
60	37
80	50
100	62
120	75

120 kilometers per hour is the fastest you can go on a Canadian highway. The province of Ontario is especially strict, with maximum speed of 100 km/h. If you are caught driving 50 kilometers per hour over the posted limit in Ontario, your car will be impounded. Below are typical speed limits you will see on Canadian roads.

Type of Driving	Kilometers per hour	Miles per hour
Multi-lane highway driving	110 km/h	66 mph
Most 2-lane highways outside cities & towns	80 km/h	50 mph
Major roads in urban and suburban areas	60 – 70 km/h	37 – 44 mph
Residential streets	40 – 50 km/h	25 – 30 mph
School zones	30-50 km/h	20-30 mph

Speed Limits in the United States

Below are typical speed limits you will see in the United States. Only a few freeways allow you to go faster than 65 miles per hour, and they tend to be in long, open, stretches of roadway.

Miles per hour	Kilometers per hour
15	24
25	40
30	48
45	72
50	80
55	88
65	105
70	113

Type of Driving	Miles per hour	Kilometers per hour
Multi-lane highway driving	55 – 70 mph	88 – 118 km/h
Most 2-lane highways outside cities & towns	55 – 65 mph	88 – 105 km/h
Major roads in urban and suburban areas	25 – 45 mph	40 – 72 km/h
Residential streets	25 – 35 mph	40 – 56 km/h
School zones	15 – 25 mph	23 – 40 km/h

In addition to maximum speed limits, there are sometimes default minimum speed limits. You will see that most often on freeways where the minimum speed may be 45 mph. Most jurisdictions also have laws prohibiting speeds so low they are dangerous or impede the normal and reasonable flow of traffic.