Does Texas law allow you to speed to keep up with traffic?

A view of the road works and cars on Interstate 35 highway in Austin, United States on October 21, 2025. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Ever wondered if there's such a thing as driving too fast or too slow in Texas?

What about keeping up with the flow of traffic? Is that even a thing?

Here's what Texas law says about speeding.

What counts as speeding in Texas?

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, speeding played a role in almost 160,000 traffic crashes in Texas in 2024 and caused 1,467 fatalities.

This accounted for 35% of all traffic fatalities in the state, making speeding the top contributing cause of crashes.

Texas law bars drivers from going faster than is reasonable for the conditions. Put simply, motorists must adjust their speed to stay safe, and the appropriate speed depends on what’s happening around them.

What’s the maximum speed limit on Texas roads? Highways?

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, under Texas law, the maximum speed is set at 70 mph on highways. However, the Texas Transportation Commission may set a maximum speed limit of 75 mph and even 80 or 85 mph on highways built to handle those speeds if a traffic or engineering study concludes that such a limit is safe and reasonable.

Is going with the flow of traffic a valid defense if you're driving in Texas?

In Texas, once you exceed the posted speed limit, you can legally be cited, regardless of how fast other drivers are going. The fact that surrounding traffic was moving faster does not excuse the violation.

Texas law treats posted speed limits as maximums, not guidelines. For example, if traffic is driving at 80 mph on the highway and the posted speed limit is 65 mph, you can still get a citation.

What are Texas's Prima Facie speed limits?

Texas uses prima facie speed limits, meaning "based on the first impression." Per Tex. Transp. Code Ann. § 545.352, going over a prima facie speed limit does not in itself establish guilt. You may still demonstrate in court that your speed was safe under the circumstances.

Here is what the prima facie speed limits are:

• 30 miles per hour in an urban district on a street other than an alley and 15 miles per hour in an alley;
• 70 miles per hour on a highway numbered by this state or the United States outside an urban district, including a farm-to-market or ranch-to-market road
• 60 miles per hour on a highway that is outside an urban district and not a highway numbered by this state or the United States

Is there consequences for driving too slow?

Driving too fast can be dangerous on the highway or on the streets. But can driving like a sloth get you pulled over?

While Texas doesn't have fixed minimum speed limits, drivers can be found in violation if it's deemed they're slowing down the movement of traffic.

According to Tex. Transp. Code.§545.363, there can be a citation for obstructing traffic if you are impeding the safe forward progress of other vehicles on the roadways.

The law says:

• An operator may not drive so slowly as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.
• When the Texas Transportation Commission, the Texas Turnpike Authority, the commissioners court of a county, or the governing body of a municipality, within the jurisdiction of each, as applicable, as specified in Sections 545.353 to 545.357, determines from the results of an engineering and traffic investigation that slow speeds on a part of a highway consistently impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, the commission, authority, county commissioners court, or governing body may determine and declare a minimum speed limit on the highway.
• If appropriate signs are erected giving notice of a minimum speed limit adopted under this section, an operator may not drive a vehicle more slowly than that limit except as necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.