Mass. Gen. Laws » Part I Title XIV Chapter 90
Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90, § 18 (2026)

Special regulations, speed and use of vehicles

✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 18. The city council, the transportation commission of the city of Boston, the board of selectmen, park commissioners, a traffic commission or traffic director or the department, on ways within their control, may make, amend or rescind special regulations as to the speed of motor vehicles and may prohibit the use of such vehicles altogether on such ways. In the case of a speed regulation, or an amendment or rescission thereof, no such action shall take effect unless the department shall have certified in writing that such regulation, amendment or rescission is consistent with the public interests.

In the case of any special regulation other than a speed regulation, no such special regulation or amendment or rescission thereof shall take effect unless it shall have been published in 1 or more newspapers, if there be any, published in the town in which the way is situated, otherwise in 1 or more newspapers published in the county in which the town is situated.

Nothing herein contained shall be construed as affecting the right of the department of conservation and recreation to make rules and regulations governing the use and operation of motor vehicles on lands, roadways and parkways under its care and control. No such rule or regulation shall prohibit the use of passenger or station wagon type motor vehicles whose gross weight is less than 5,000 pounds and which are registered for commercial use on ways where noncommercial passenger type motor vehicles are permitted to operate.

No regulation, amendment or rescission under this section shall take effect until there shall have been erected, upon the ways affected thereby and at such points as the department or department of conservation and recreation may designate, signs, conforming to standards adopted by the department, setting forth the speed or other restrictions established by the regulation, and then only during the time such signs are in place. Any sign purporting to establish a speed limit that has not been erected in accordance with the foregoing provisions may be removed by or under the direction of the department.

Upon rescission of the speed regulation, or a portion thereof, and removal of the signs, sections 17 and 17C shall govern.

The city council, the transportation commission of the city of Boston, the board of selectmen, park commissioners, a traffic commission or traffic director may petition the department to modify the speed limit on a state highway within their geographic boundaries. Said petition shall be made in writing to the state traffic engineer. The department shall have 90 days to approve or deny the petition. Upon approval of the petition or the expiration of the 90 days without action, the petitioned speed limit shall become effective and the department shall erect upon the state highway affected thereby and at such points as the department may designate, signs, conforming to standards adopted by the department, setting forth the speed limit.

Any person, corporation, firm or trust owning a private parking area or owning land on or abutting a private way, or any person, corporation, firm or trust controlling such land or parking area, with the written consent of the owner, may apply in writing to the city council, the traffic commission of a city or town having a traffic commission, the transportation commission of the city of Boston or the board of selectmen in any town in which the private way or parking area lies, to make special regulations as to the speed of motor vehicles and as to the use of such vehicles upon the particular private way or parking area, and the city council with the approval of the mayor, the traffic commission of a city or town, the transportation commission of the city of Boston or the board of selectmen, as the case may be, may make such special regulations with respect to said private way or parking area to the same extent as to ways within their control and such special regulations shall not be subject to approval by the department or the registrar; provided, however, that any traffic signs, signals, markings or devices used to implement such special regulations shall conform in size, shape and color to the most current manual on uniform traffic control devices.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 17 cases, 1923–2019 · leading case: Nabhan v. Bd. of Selectmen of Salisbury, 423 N.E.2d 1023 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981).
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Nabhan v. Bd. of Selectmen of Salisbury, 423 N.E.2d 1023 (Mass. App. Ct. 1981). · cites it 8× “The record discloses that the defendants closed The Driftway without first securing from the Department certification “in writing that such regulation is consistent with the public interests” and without having published the regulation “in one or more newspapers,” as required by…”
Commonwealth v. LeBlanc, 62 N.E.3d 34 (Mass. 2016). · cites it 2× “90, § 17,] or any regulation under [G. L. c. 90, § 18], or [3] whoever without stopping and making known his name, residence and the register number of his motor vehicle goes away after knowingly colliding with or otherwise causing injury to any other vehicle or property, or [4]…”
Sever v. City of Salem, 390 F. Supp. 3d 299 (D.D.C. 2019). · cites it 3× “"In contrast, G.L. c. 90, § 18, permits the imposition of a different speed limit so long as certain procedures are followed.”
Opinion of the Justices to the Senate & the House of Representatives, 147 N.E. 681 (Mass. 1925). “A license to drive and a registration of motor vehicles have been required as prerequisite to their use on the public ways in this Commonwealth almost from their first appearance.”
Am. Motorcyclist Ass'n v. PARK COMM. OF BROCKTON, 592 N.E.2d 1314 (Mass. 1992). · cites it 2× “While G. L. c. 90, § 18, gives park commissioners the right to regulate the use and operation of motor vehicles, or to ban them entirely, it does not allow the selection of a particular class, e.”
Anzalone v. Metro. Dist. Comm'n, 153 N.E. 325 (Mass. 1926). “G. L. c. 90, § 18, under which the park commissioners may prohibit the use of vehicles altogether on certain ways under their control, is not involved in the decision.”
Navy Yard Four Assocs., LLC v. Dep't of Env't Prot., 37 N.E.3d 46 (Mass. App. Ct. 2015). “G. L. c. 90, § 18. “That the Legislature did not act to challenge the [agency’s] regulations lends weight to the conclusion that the [agency] acted within its delegated authority in promulgating them.”
Commonwealth v. Bosk, 556 N.E.2d 1055 (Mass. App. Ct. 1990). “90, § 17] and violations of a special speed regulation lawfully made under the authority of [G. L. c. 90, § 18], shall be deemed civil motor vehicle infractions.”
Jensen v. McEldowney, 170 N.E.2d 472 (Mass. 1960). “See G. L. c. 90, § 18. But in view of the testimony of the police officer which got into the case without objection we think that the argument was not improper.”
Commonwealth v. Lee, 141 N.E. 607 (Mass. 1923). “The appeal from the motion that “ the complaint be dismissed and the defendant discharged on the ground that the ordinance of the City of New Bedford, adopted September 30, 1922, under, which this complaint has been brought, is not yet in effect because of the failure to comply…”
Belezos v. Bd. of Selectmen of Hingham, 94 N.E.3d 880 (Mass. App. Ct. 2017). “4 Belezos's complaint alleges that the town improperly posted sixty speed limit signs, including the sign under which he was cited, when it failed to obey the procedures outlined in G. L. c. 90, § 18, and set forth in G. L.”
Barresy v. James A. Freaney, Inc., 150 N.E.2d 921 (Mass. 1958). “Section 50 of the traffic regulations of the Boston traffic commission (see G. L. c. 90, § 18, as amended; St. 1929, c.”
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