CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — No one wants to get a speeding ticket, but what about a moving-too-slow ticket?
In West Virginia, there are tiers for speeding tickets, depending on how fast you are going. But you can also get pulled over for going too slow.
According to the West Virginia Code, speed limits are generally 15 miles per hour in school zones, 25 miles per hour in business and residence districts, and 55 miles per hour on open country highways, unless otherwise marked.
As far as driving too slowly, there is no definitive number below the speed limit that can get you a ticket in the state code. But, it does say that local authorities “may determine and declare a minimum speed limit below which no person shall drive a vehicle.” Within §17C-6-3a, it also says that in order to create a minimum speed, a commissioner or local authority must do so “on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that slow speeds on any part of the highway consistently impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.”
Regardless of the local speed minimum, the state code also has an exception where drivers may go slower “when necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.”
Those who violate a minimum speed limit can be fined up to $100 for a first offense and up to $500 for repeat offenses, upon conviction.
Some cities, such as Wheeling, have included in their local laws that drivers cannot go so slow that it impedes the “normal and reasonable movement of traffic,” but it does not list a specific number.
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Driver’s Licensing Handbook says that places with minimum speeds may be listed alongside the speed limits on square and rectangular signs that are white with black letters.