West Virginia Truck Speed Limit

How fast a truck can run in West Virginia

West Virginia posts 70 on rural interstates and trucks run the same number, no split (W. Va. Code § 17C-6-1). Urban interstate stretches drop to 55, and open country highways cap at 55. Hauling coal? West Virginia triples your speeding fine on a commercial coal truck (§ 17C-6-1). Regular fines are graduated, roughly $100 for a first offense up to $500 for a third, and running 15-plus over can carry up to six months in jail. There is no 55 mph minimum you have to hold. The 55 in § 17C-6-1(d) is a floor on the limit the state may post, not a speed you must keep.

Truck-specific rules and quirks

• No statewide minimum speed. The 55 mph figure in W. Va. Code § 17C-6-1(d) is a floor on the limit the state may post on controlled-access and interstate highways, not a speed you have to hold. A minimum binds you only where one is posted after an engineering study (§ 17C-6-3a), which also bars driving slow enough to impede traffic.
• Rural interstates are 70; urban interstate stretches drop to 55. Commercial coal trucks pay triple the normal speeding fine on conviction (W. Va. Code § 17C-6-1).

What a speeding ticket costs

Speeding fines are graduated: up to $100 for a first offense, up to $200 for a second within a year, up to $500 for a third within two years (W. Va. Code § 17C-6-1(e)). Jail comes in only on that third or later conviction if you were 15 mph or more over, and then it is up to six months. Haul coal on the coal resource transportation road system and a speeding conviction costs triple the ordinary fine (§ 17C-6-1(h)); off that road system you pay the normal fine. Work-zone fines increase when workers are present.

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