Speed limits
You speed through a marked work zone at a time when no workers or work vehicles are there. What happens to the fine if you are ticketed?
- It is doubled, even though no workers were present. Correct answer
- It is the normal fine, because no workers were present.
- It is doubled only if a flagger was directing traffic.
Why
Work zones are dangerous for drivers and for the people working in them, so New York doubles speeding fines there. The doubling does not depend on seeing anyone: it applies even when the workers and their vehicles are gone, which rules out both the normal fine and the idea that a flagger has to be present. A flagger matters for a different reason, because their signals carry the same authority as a sign and you can be ticketed for ignoring them. Speed rules in these areas go further than the fine: a work area limit can be posted as low as 25 mph, and with no limit posted you still have to slow down. An empty work zone is still a work zone, and a speeding ticket there still costs twice as much.
Where this comes from
New York State Driver's Manual (MV-21), April 2026 version. The correct answer is It is doubled, even though no workers were present.
More on speed limits
- Under New York's general rule, what is the highest speed you may drive on a road where no speed limit sign is posted?
- You are driving on a street in New York City and see no speed limit sign. What speed limit applies?
- Fog has settled over an expressway with a posted limit of 55 mph. You keep driving at 50 mph. Can a police officer give you a speeding ticket?
- What speed limit do New York expressways normally have, and what higher limit may be posted in some rural areas?