Speed limits
You are towing a trailer on a divided highway that is posted at 65 mph. How fast may you drive?
- 55 mph. Correct answer
- 65 mph.
- 45 mph.
Why
Towing changes your speed limit, not only your lane. The handbook puts vehicles towing trailers at 55 mph, the same ceiling it puts on a two-lane undivided highway, and that holds even where the posted maximum for everyone else is 65. So the number on the sign is not yours to use. Forty-five mph is not a limit the handbook sets for towing anywhere. There is a lane rule that travels with the speed rule: while towing a vehicle or trailer your place is the far-right lane, or whichever one is signed for slower traffic, and where nothing is marked and there are four or more in your direction, you may only use the two closest to the right edge.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is 55 mph.
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
- 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?
- You are on a California highway and there are no speed limit signs in sight. What is the maximum speed limit?