Speed limits
You are driving on a residential street and there are no speed limit signs posted. What is the speed limit?
- 25 mph. Correct answer
- 15 mph.
- 35 mph.
Why
With nothing posted, a business or residential district is 25 mph, and that is the default to fall back on for ordinary city streets. Fifteen mph is the handbook's number for tighter situations: a blind intersection, which is one with no stop signs at any corner, and an alley. Thirty-five mph appears in the handbook as a ceiling of a different kind, the posted limit above which neighborhood electric and low-speed vehicles are not allowed on a road at all. The same 25 mph also covers the 500 feet around a school while children are outside or crossing, which is worth knowing because a school can sit on a residential street where nothing else changes.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is 25 mph.
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Business or Residential Districts, page 52
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Blind Intersections, page 51
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Sharing the Road › Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) and Low-speed Vehicles (LSVs), page 46
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Around Children, page 50
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Alleys, page 51
The rule behind this one
California speed limits and the basic speed law goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on speed limits
- You are towing a trailer on a divided highway that is posted at 65 mph. How fast may you drive?
- The road is wet from rain. By how much does the handbook say you should cut your speed?
- You are driving on packed snow. What does the handbook tell you to do with your speed?
- Traffic is light and the weather is clear, but you are driving well under the speed limit and cars are stacking up behind you. What does the handbook say about that?