DMV PracticeSpeed limits without a sign: California, Virginia, Oregon
Every state sets speed limits that apply even where no sign is posted. They are favourite test questions because the numbers differ from state to state.
The table shows what the three handbooks say, as we read them on 12 November 2026. "Not in the passages we read" means only that: the handbook may well cover the point elsewhere, so look it up there.
| Rule | California | Virginia | Oregon |
|---|---|---|---|
| School area | 25 mph within 500 feet of a school while children are outside or crossing | 25 MPH in school areas | 20 mph in a school speed zone |
| Business district | Not captured from the sections we read | 25 MPH | 20 mph |
| Residential area | Not captured from the sections we read | 25 MPH | 25 mph |
| Alley | 15 mph | Not in the passages we read | 15 mph |
| Unpaved road | Not in the passages we read | 35 MPH | Not in the passages we read |
| Other roads, unless posted | 65 mph on most highways; 55 mph on a two-lane undivided highway | 55 MPH | 55 mph; interstate limits vary |
A speed limit is a maximum, not a target
All three handbooks make the same point in different words. California calls it the Basic Speed Law: you may never drive faster than is safe for current conditions. Oregon's manual defines a speed limit as the maximum speed considered safe for the area under ideal driving conditions, and refers to its own basic rule. Virginia's manual says a speed limit is the maximum legal speed under ideal conditions, and that by law you must drive slower where a school zone or work zone limit is in effect or where conditions require it. In rain, fog, heavy traffic or near children, the safe speed is below the number on the sign, and a driver can be stopped for driving too fast for conditions while under the limit.
How these appear in the test
Questions usually name a place and ask for the limit "unless otherwise posted". Learn your own state's list exactly. Do not carry a number from another state: 25 in a Virginia business area is 20 in Oregon. California adds special cases: 15 mph within 100 feet of a railroad crossing where you cannot see the tracks for 400 feet in both directions, and no more than 10 mph when passing a bus or streetcar stopped at a safety zone.
A way to remember
Write your state's limits on one card, slowest first, and say them aloud daily for a week. Then cover the numbers and test yourself on the places.
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Independent practice site. DMV Practice is not a government website and is not connected with any Department of Motor Vehicles or licensing agency. The questions are our own, written from each state's public driver handbook as we read it on 12 November 2026. They are not the official test questions. Laws change: the current handbook of your own state is the authority.