Yukon speed limits and key traffic laws

By the end of this topic you can

• You can state the speed limit that applies when no sign is posted.
• You can read school and playground zone signs correctly.
• You can respond correctly to a school bus with flashing lights.
• You can make way for emergency vehicles.
• You can use headlights as Yukon law requires.

What you need to know and understand

• Unless a sign says otherwise, the handbook gives the speed limit as 50 km/h.
• School zones are 30 km/h and apply Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. when children are in class; if you are unsure whether school is in, treat the zone as active.
• On a street or undivided highway you must stop in both directions for a school bus showing flashing red lights; on a highway split by a median, only traffic behind the bus must stop.
• Emergency vehicles using lights and sirens have the right-of-way; pull to the right and stop, but never in an intersection.
• You must drive with low beams on during the day if your vehicle has no automatic daytime running lights.
• It is illegal to smoke in a vehicle carrying passengers under 18.
• Yukon raised fines for unsafe driving, including speeding, careless or distracted driving and failing to stop for school buses, on July 1, 2025.

Reading speed in Yukon

Highway limits vary by stretch of road, so always watch for posted signs, including speed limit change ahead signs. Playground zone signs in the handbook show 30 km/h at all hours. School zones are also 30 km/h, in effect on school days from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; they do not apply on weekends, holidays or in summer, but each school sets its own calendar, so slow down if in doubt. Speeding in a school or playground zone costs more than ordinary speeding: up to 15 km/h over is a $150 fine and 3 demerit points, against $100 and 2 points elsewhere. Examiners also list it as a common reason for failing the road test.

Driving far below the flow is also a hazard. If you are holding up traffic, pull over safely and let it pass.

School buses and emergency vehicles

• Flashing amber lights on a school bus: prepare to stop.
• Flashing upper red lights: stop, whether you are behind the bus or coming toward it on an undivided road. Do not move until the red lights have stopped flashing and the bus has started to move. On a highway divided by a median, only drivers behind the bus must stop.
• Emergency vehicle with lights and siren: pull right and stop (left if you are in the left lane of a divided highway or one-way street). On a divided highway, traffic on the far side of the median may not need to stop.
• Following a fire truck: stay back at least 150 metres.
• Stopped emergency or roadside vehicles with red, blue or amber lights: slow down and leave plenty of room.

Lights and other everyday rules

Headlights and taillights are required at night and whenever visibility drops below 150 metres, for example in fog or snow. Dim your high beams within 300 metres of an oncoming vehicle and within 150 metres of a vehicle you are following. Daytime running lights often do not switch on your taillights, so use your headlights instead.

U-turns are illegal on a curve, near the crest of a hill where you cannot be seen within 150 metres, between intersections in a municipality, at traffic lights and where a sign forbids them. Where a sign requires winter tires or chains, you must use them. For trips on the Alaska Highway, see our guide to winter roads on this site.

Common mistakes

• Relying on daytime running lights. Without automatic DRLs you need low beams on during the day, and DRLs alone may leave your taillights dark.
• Driving past a stopped school bus from the opposite direction on an undivided road. Both directions must stop.
• Stopping in an intersection for an ambulance. Clear the intersection first, then pull over.
• Assuming a school zone is off because it is late afternoon or a holiday; if you are not sure school is out, slow to 30 km/h. Playground zones have no hours.

Test yourself: Yukon speed limits and key traffic laws

Answer each question, then read the explanation. Questions come in a random order each time.

Go deeper

• Driving the Alaska Highway and Yukon Winter Roads as a New Driver
• How to Get a Driver’s Licence in Yukon
• Yukon Driver’s Basic Handbook study guide