Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 63-3-516 (2026)
Speed limits within highway work zones; penalties for violations
✓ current as of July 2026
- (1) It is unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle within a highway work zone at a speed in excess of the maximum speed limit specifically established for the zone whenever workers are present and whenever the zone is indicated by appropriately placed signs displaying the reduced maximum speed limit. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be punished, upon conviction, for a first offense by a fine of not more than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00); and for second, third and subsequent offenses by a fine of double the maximum fine imposed for second, third or subsequent offenses under Section 63-9-11.
- (2) For the purposes of this section the term "highway work zone" means a construction or maintenance area that is located on or along any public highway, road or street within this state that is marked:
- (a) By appropriate warning signs or other traffic control devices indicating that work is in progress; and
- (b) By signs of a design approved by the Department of Transportation indicating that any person who operates a motor vehicle within a highway work zone at a speed in excess of the reduced maximum speed limit may be punished by a fine of double the maximum amount otherwise authorized by law.
- (3) Nothing in this section shall preclude the prosecution or conviction for careless or reckless driving of any motor vehicle operator whose operation of a motor vehicle in a highway work zone, apart from speed, demonstrates the operation of the same in a careless or imprudent manner in violation of Section 63-3-1213 or in a reckless manner in violation of Section 63-3-1201.
- (4) Every person who operates any motor vehicle in violation of the provisions of this section and who causes property damage to road construction equipment or a motor vehicle in an amount of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or greater within a highway work zone shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a separate misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not less than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not less than thirty (30) days nor more than one (1) year, or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court, and the court shall, as a condition of any sentence imposed determine the extent of the property damage caused by the violator and require the violator to make restitution to the injured party upon such terms and conditions determined by the court. Nothing herein however shall prevent the injured party from pursuing any other civil remedies against the violators as allowed by law.
- (5) Every person who operates any motor vehicle in violation of the provisions of this section and who causes the death of another within a highway work zone or mutilates, disfigures, permanently disables or destroys the tongue, eye, lip, nose or any other limb, organ or member of another within a highway work zone shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a separate felony for each victim who suffers death, mutilation, disfigurement or other injury and shall be committed to the custody of the State Department of Corrections for a period of time of not less than three (3) years and not to exceed fifteen (15) years for each death, mutilation, disfigurement or other injury, and the imprisonment for the second or each subsequent conviction, in the discretion of the court, shall commence either at the termination of the imprisonment for the preceding conviction or run concurrently with the preceding conviction.
Laws, 1997, ch. 326, § 1; Laws, 2004, ch. 324, § 1, eff. 7/1/2004.
Amended by Laws, 2019, ch. 356, HB 580,§ 2, eff. 7/1/2019.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3
cases, 1998–2006 · leading case: Harrison v. State, 800 So. 2d 1134 (Miss. 2001).
Harrison v. State, 800 So. 2d 1134 (Miss. 2001). “We granted certiorari solely to confront a matter of statutory interpretation of first impression, that is, whether the specific provisions of Miss.Code Ann. § 63-3-516 (Supp.2000) control over the more general speeding statutes.”
Etheridge v. Harold Case & Co., Inc., 960 So. 2d 474 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006). “, citing Miss.Code Ann. § 63-3-516(1) (2000). Therefore, though the only traffic signs regarding speed limits in this location indicated that 60 miles per hour was the maximum, the absence of construction workers meant the posted limit was not the enforceable limit.”
Billy Daniel Harrison, Jr. v. State of Mississippi (Miss. 1998). “We granted certiorari solely to confront a matter of statutory interpretation of first impression, that is, whether the specific provisions of Miss. Code Ann. § 63-3-516 (Supp. 2000) control over the more general speeding statutes.”
Miss. Code Ann. § 63-3-516(1): 2 cases
Harrison v. State, 800 So. 2d 1134 (Miss. 2001). “We granted certiorari solely to confront a matter of statutory interpretation of first impression, that is, whether the specific provisions of Miss.Code Ann. § 63-3-516 (Supp.2000) control over the more general speeding statutes.”
Etheridge v. Harold Case & Co., Inc., 960 So. 2d 474 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006). “, citing Miss.Code Ann. § 63-3-516(1) (2000). Therefore, though the only traffic signs regarding speed limits in this location indicated that 60 miles per hour was the maximum, the absence of construction workers meant the posted limit was not the enforceable limit.”
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