Indiana speed limits and key traffic laws

By the end of this topic you can

• You can state the Indiana default speed limits for the main road types.
• You can explain how school zone and work zone limits work.
• You can name the places where passing is illegal.
• You can say when you must stop for a school bus, including on a divided road.
• You can describe what Indiana's Move Over law requires.

What you need to know and understand

• Rural interstates: 70 mph for passenger vehicles, unless a lower limit is posted.
• Rural divided highways with four or more lanes (not interstates): 60 mph unless posted lower.
• Urban interstates, non-divided state highways and county roads: 55 mph unless posted otherwise. Since July 2025, state law sets 65 mph on I-465 around Indianapolis.
• Most urban residential areas: 30 mph. Alleys: 15 mph.
• Work zone limits are always at least 10 mph below the normal maximum for that road.
• When passing, you must be back in your lane no less than 100 feet before any oncoming vehicle.
• Passing a school bus with its stop arm out is a Class A infraction, and the court may also suspend your license. Doing it recklessly can be charged as a Class A misdemeanor, or a felony if someone is hurt or killed.

Speed limits by road type

The Driver's Manual groups limits by area. Rural interstates sit outside urban areas of at least 50,000 people. Heavy trucks with a declared gross weight over 26,000 pounds are held to 65 mph there.

School zones use a lower posted limit. Common hours are 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, or whenever the school beacons flash, and local authorities can set lower limits while children are present. Some work zone limits apply only when lights flash; others apply at all times. Even at the legal limit, you must slow down further for rain, ice, poor visibility or worn tires.

Passing: when it is legal and when it is not

• Never pass where a solid yellow line is on your side of the center line.
• Never pass on or approaching a curve or the crest of a hill.
• Never pass within 100 feet of an intersection, railroad crossing, bridge, viaduct or tunnel.
• Obey the yellow pennant No Passing Zone sign on the left and the white Do Not Pass sign on the right.
• When someone passes you, let them by and do not speed up.

School buses and the Move Over law

Amber lights on a school bus mean it is about to stop. Once the red lights flash and the stop arm extends, you must stop. On a road divided by a barrier or an unimproved median, only traffic going the same direction as the bus must stop.

Indiana's Move Over law (IC 9-21-8-35) covers emergency vehicles with flashing red, red and white, or red and blue lights. You must change lanes away from them if you can. If you cannot, slow to at least 10 mph below the posted limit and proceed with care. Failing to do so is a Class A infraction. The same move-over-or-slow-down rule applies to tow trucks, highway maintenance, utility, trash and survey vehicles showing amber lights, and to disabled vehicles with hazard lights on. For those, a violation is a Class B infraction.

Other laws worth remembering

• Headlights are required from sunset to sunrise and whenever you cannot see 500 feet ahead.
• Dim your high beams within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle and within 200 feet of a vehicle you are following.
• Indiana is a hands-free state: you may not hold a phone while driving. Drivers under 21 may not use a phone at all except to call 911.
• Trucks must keep to the right lane on two-lane interstate sections, and to the right two lanes where there are three or more.

Common mistakes

• Assuming 70 mph applies on every interstate. Urban interstates default to 55 mph.
• Speeding up when another driver starts to pass you.
• Driving past a stopped school bus on an undivided four-lane road. Only a barrier or unimproved median lets opposite traffic continue.
• Staying in the lane next to a stopped police car because traffic is heavy, instead of slowing to at least 10 mph under the limit.

Test yourself: Indiana speed limits and key traffic laws

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

Go deeper

• Indiana Hands-Free Law and the Under-21 Phone Ban
• Indiana Bioptic Driver Program
• Indiana Permit Test