Towing Speed

The maximum speed limit on all other highways shall be 55 miles per hour if the vehicle is a passenger motor vehicle, bus, pickup or panel truck, or a motorcycle, but 45 miles per hour on such highways if the vehicle is a truck, tractor truck, or combination of vehicles designed to transport property, or is a motor vehicle being used to tow a vehicle designed for self-propulsion, or a house trailer. [Emphasis added.]

Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, the maximum speed limit shall be 70 miles per hour where indicated by lawfully placed signs, erected subsequent to a traffic engineering study and analysis of available and appropriate accident and law-enforcement data, on (i) interstate highways; (ii) multilane, divided, limited access highways; and (iii) high-occupancy vehicle lanes if such lanes are physically separated from regular travel lanes. The maximum speed limit shall be 60 miles per hour where indicated by lawfully placed signs, erected subsequent to a traffic engineering study and analysis of available and appropriate accident and law-enforcement data, on U.S. Route 17, U.S. Route 23, U.S. Route 29, U.S. Route 58, U.S. Alternate Route 58, U.S. Route 301, U.S. Route 360, U.S. Route 460, U.S. Route 501 between the Town of South Boston and the North Carolina state line, State Route 3, and State Route 207 where such routes are nonlimited access, multilane, divided highways.

No doubt some places use speed limits as revenue enhancers, but in more civilized states, speed traps are illegal.  The wisdom of split speed limits is debatable and it would be interested in seeing what professional traffic engineers have to say about it.  Just as one would not hire an urologist to perform open heart surgery, though s/he may be an outstanding urologist, perhaps we should look to highly trained traffic engineers to help settle this question.

Since each state is empowered to set it's own speed limits and we don't have a national speed limit, then our obligation is to follow the speed laws of the state we're in, even if we think they are silly, inappropriate, porrly thought out, laughable, revenue enhancers, or just plane dumb.  And most states, in the last analysis, have superimposed on all their speed limits, the basic speed law; i.e., no one should drive faster than is safe for existing conditions.