Reckless / excessive-speeding mph thresholds that trigger a criminal charge, by state
For each US state: the speed -- stated as an absolute mph, as mph over the posted limit, or both -- at which ordinary speeding stops being ordinary and the statute attaches a separate, heavier offence, quoted exactly as the statute states it, with the classification the statute gives. Answers 'how many over is reckless driving in [state]', 'what speed is reckless driving in [state]', and 'is speeding a crime in [state] or just a ticket'. The mechanism varies sharply. Virginia sets both a relative trigger (20 mph over) and an absolute one (85 mph regardless of the limit), either one alone being reckless driving. North Carolina sets the same pair as alternatives -- more than 15 over OR over 80, a Class 3 misdemeanor. Illinois sets no absolute at all, only a tiered relative one (26-34 over a Class B misdemeanor, 35+ over a Class A). Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Colorado and Vermont each set a single threshold and each name a different kind of offence for it. And in three states the answer is that there is no criminal threshold: Arizona's excessive-speed statute has no absolute-mph clause at all (contradicting the widely repeated claim that Arizona has an '85 mph absolute' rule), Oregon keeps even 100 mph a traffic violation rather than a crime, and Ohio makes ordinary speeding a minor misdemeanor with a fourth-degree upgrade tied to district speeds rather than to mph over the limit.
The data
| State | Threshold over the posted limit | Offense classification | Statute | Absolute mph threshold | Second, higher band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Exceed the posted speed limit by more than twenty miles per hour in other locations | class 3 misdemeanor | A.R.S. § 28-701.02 — Excessive speeds; classification | ||
| Colorado | twenty-five or more miles per hour in excess of the reasonable and prudent speed or in excess of the maximum lawful speed limit of seventy-five miles per hour | class 2 misdemeanor traffic offense | C.R.S. § 42-4-1101(12)(b) — Speed limits | ||
| Connecticut | shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than three hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days or be both fined and imprisoned for the first offense | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-222 — Reckless driving | greater than eighty-five miles per hour | ||
| Hawaii | The applicable state or county speed limit by thirty miles per hour or more | petty misdemeanor | HRS § 291C-105 — Excessive speeding | Eighty miles per hour or more irrespective of the applicable state or county speed limit | |
| Illinois | 26 miles per hour or more but less than 35 miles per hour in excess of the applicable maximum speed limit established under this Chapter or a local ordinance | Class B misdemeanor | 625 ILCS 5/11-601.5 — Driving 26 miles per hour or more in excess of applicable limit | 35 miles per hour or more in excess of the applicable maximum speed limit established under this Chapter or a local ordinance commits a Class A misdemeanor | |
| Maine | exceeds the maximum rate of speed by 30 miles per hour or more | Class E crime | 29-A M.R.S. § 2074 — Rates of speed | ||
| Nevada | 30 miles per hour or more over that posted by a public authority | misdemeanor | NRS 484B.600(8) — Basic rule; penalties; discretion of court to reduce violation in certain circumstances; maximum fine; unlawful act. [Effective July 1, 2026.] | ||
| North Carolina | more than 15 miles per hour more than the speed limit established by law for the highway where the offense occurred | Class 3 misdemeanor | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-141(j1) — Speed restrictions | over 80 miles per hour | |
| Ohio | a misdemeanor of the fourth degree | Ohio Rev. Code § 4511.21(P) — Speed limits | faster than thirty-five miles an hour in a business district of a municipal corporation, faster than fifty miles an hour in other portions of a municipal corporation, or faster than thirty-five miles an hour in a school zone during recess or while children are going to or leaving school during the school's opening or closing hours | ||
| Oregon | a specific fine traffic violation | ORS 811.109(5) — Penalties for speed violations | 100 miles per hour or greater | ||
| Vermont | a speed of 60 miles per hour or more and at least 30 miles per hour in excess of a State speed zone or local speed limit | imprisoned upon a first conviction not more than three months or fined not more than $300.00, or both | 23 V.S.A. § 1097 — Excessive speed | ||
| Virginia | 20 miles per hour or more in excess of the applicable maximum speed limit | guilty of reckless driving | Va. Code § 46.2-862 — Exceeding speed limit | in excess of 85 miles per hour regardless of the applicable maximum speed limit |
Where this came from
Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 12 sources this dataset was assembled from.
- azleg.govhttps://www.azleg.gov/ars/28/00701-02.htm
- codes.findlaw.comhttps://codes.findlaw.com/co/title-42-vehicles-and-traffic/co-rev-st-sect-42-4-1101.html
- codes.findlaw.comhttps://codes.findlaw.com/ct/title-14-motor-vehicles-use-of-the-highway-by-vehicles-gasoline/ct-gen-st-sect-14-222.html
- capitol.hawaii.govhttps://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol05_Ch0261-0319/HRS0291C/HRS_0291C-0105.htm
- ilga.govhttps://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=062500050K11-601.5
- legislature.maine.govhttps://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/29-A/title29-Asec2074.html
- leg.state.nv.ushttps://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-484B.html
- codes.findlaw.comhttps://codes.findlaw.com/nc/chapter-20-motor-vehicles/nc-gen-st-sect-20-141.html
- codes.ohio.govhttps://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-4511.21
- oregonlegislature.govhttps://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors811.html
- codes.findlaw.comhttps://codes.findlaw.com/vt/title-23-motor-vehicles/vt-st-tit-23-sect-1097.html
- law.lis.virginia.govhttps://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title46.2/chapter8/section46.2-862/
Machine-readable
- data.jsonThe whole dataset — every record with its source URL and source quote.
- Open Knowledge Format bundleOne JSON object per line — every record's frontmatter and quoted span exactly as it is held here, in one fetch.
- How this is made and checkedWhat "verified against source" does and does not mean.
From your own code
Same records, same quotes, without scraping the page: refsource is on PyPI and npm. Each value comes back carrying the URL it was read from and the sentence on that page that states it — .source and .quote sit on the value itself rather than in a side channel, so the checking step is available instead of skipped.
pip install refsource
refsource lookup reckless-driving-speed-thresholds-by-state state=Arizona
npx -y refsource lookup reckless-driving-speed-thresholds-by-state state=Arizona