What a New Jersey speeding ticket is

This page quotes the New Jersey Statutes (New Jersey Legislature, retrieved 29 Oct 2026): N.J.S.A. 39:4-98 on speed limits, 39:4-98.6 and 39:4-98.7 on doubled fines, and 39:4-104 on the penalty for violations of its article. It also quotes the New Jersey Courts Statewide Violations Bureau Schedule and a New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission summary page. It does not apply them to any notice. Read any court, charge, speed limit, alleged speed, section number, and amount shown on your notice. Confirm what your notice says.

Related: New Jersey parking tickets.

The statute text below is quoted from the New Jersey Legislature’s statutes database as shown when retrieved on 29 Oct 2026. Schedule and summary rows are quoted line by line as printed.

What N.J.S.A. 39:4-98 says about speed limits

N.J.S.A. 39:4-98 is headed “Rates of speed”. It begins: “Subject to the provisions of R.S.39:4-96 and R.S.39:4-97 and except in those instances where a lower speed is specified in this chapter, it shall be prima facie lawful for the driver of a vehicle to drive it at a speed not exceeding the following:”

a. (1) “Twenty-five miles per hour, when passing through a school zone during recess, when the presence of children is clearly visible from the roadway, or while children are going to or leaving school, during opening or closing hours;”
b. (1) “Twenty-five miles per hour in any business or residential district;”
(2) “Thirty-five miles per hour in any suburban business or residential district;”
c. “Fifty miles per hour in all other locations, except as otherwise provided in the "Sixty-Five MPH Speed Limit Implementation Act," pursuant to P.L.1997, c.415 (C.39:4-98.3 et al.).”

Subsection a. has paragraphs (2) and (3), on certain portions of one road in one city, that this page does not cover.

N.J.S.A. 39:4-98 continues: “Whenever it shall be determined upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that any speed hereinbefore set forth is greater or less than is reasonable or safe under the conditions found to exist at any intersection or other place or upon any part of a highway, the Commissioner of Transportation, with reference to State highways, may by regulation and municipal or county authorities, with reference to highways under their jurisdiction, may by ordinance, in the case of municipal authorities, or by ordinance or resolution, in the case of county authorities, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Transportation, except as otherwise provided in R.S.39:4-8, designate a reasonable and safe speed limit thereat which, subject to the provisions of R.S.39:4-96 and R.S.39:4-97, shall be prima facie lawful at all times or at such times as may be determined, when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected at such intersection, or other place or part of the highway. Appropriate signs giving notice of the speed limits authorized under the provisions of paragraph (1) of subsection b. and subsection c. of this section may be erected if the commissioner or the municipal or county authorities, as the case may be, so determine they are necessary. Appropriate signs giving notice of the speed limits authorized under the provisions of subsection a. and paragraph (2) of subsection b. of this section shall be erected by the commissioner or the municipal or county authorities, as appropriate.”

That is the statute’s statement. N.J.S.A. 39:4-98 has other paragraphs, including a paragraph on criteria a municipality or county considers, a paragraph on speed when approaching intersections, curves, and other places, and a paragraph on signs at entrances to the State, that this page does not cover. This page does not quote R.S.39:4-8, R.S.39:4-96, R.S.39:4-97, or the act that subsection c. names, apart from section 39:4-98.6 below. It does not list the speed limits posted on particular roads, and it does not say whether a sign is erected at a particular place.

The compiled N.J.S.A. 39:4-98 retrieved on 29 Oct 2026 lists, as the last entry in its history, “2019, c.5, s.4”. The statutes search page retrieved the same day labels the compiled statutes “UPDATED THROUGH P.L.2026, c.50, and J.R.1”. This page does not say what any later law changed.

What N.J.S.A. 39:4-98.6 says about doubled fines in designated areas

N.J.S.A. 39:4-98.6 is headed “Certain fines doubled where speed limit is 65mph”. Subsection a. reads: “The fine for a motor vehicle offense embodied in the following sections of statutory law, when committed in an area which has been designated as having a speed limit of 65 miles per hour, shall be double the amount specified by law:” Subsection a. lists twenty-three items, and this page does not cover the other twenty-two. The item for section 39:4-98 reads:

“R.S. 39:4-98, when guilty of driving at a speed that is 10 miles per hour or more over the established speed limit;”

N.J.S.A. 39:4-98.6 b. (1): “Signs designed in compliance with the specifications of the Department of Transportation or, if appropriate, the authority having jurisdiction over the appropriate highway, shall be appropriately placed, by order of the commissioner or the affected authority, as the case may be, to notify drivers approaching areas designated as having a speed limit of 65 miles per hour that the fines are doubled for motor vehicle offenses in those areas.”

N.J.S.A. 39:4-98.6 c.: “It shall not be a defense to the imposition of the fines authorized under the provisions of this act that a sign notifying drivers that fines are doubled was not posted, improperly posted, wrongfully removed or stolen, or that signs or devices were not placed in compliance with the most current "Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways."”

That is the statute’s statement. Section 39:4-98.6 has other parts that this page does not cover, including paragraph (2) of subsection b and subsection d. This page does not quote the other sections that subsection a. lists or the manual that subsection c. names, it does not say which areas are designated, and it does not calculate a doubled amount.

What N.J.S.A. 39:4-98.7 says about doubled speeding fines

N.J.S.A. 39:4-98.7 is headed “Speeding 20mph or more over limit; fines, certain; doubled”. It reads: “The fine for a motor vehicle offense shall be double the amount specified by law when traveling 20 miles per hour or more over the designated speed limit as set forth in R.S.39:4-98, except as provided in subsection b. of section 1 of P.L.1993, c.332 (C.39:4-203.5) and subsection a. of section 5 of P.L.1997, c.415 (C.39:4-98.6).”

That is the statute’s statement. This page quotes all of section 39:4-98.7. This page does not quote section 39:4-203.5, and it does not calculate a doubled amount.

What N.J.S.A. 39:4-104 says about penalties for violations of its article

N.J.S.A. 39:4-104 is headed “Violations of article; penalty”. It reads: “A person violating a section of this article shall, for each violation, be subject to a fine of not less than $50.00 or more than $200.00, or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 days, or both, except as herein otherwise provided.”

That is the statute’s statement. This page quotes all of section 39:4-104. It does not list the sections of the article that section 39:4-104 refers to, it does not say which other provisions are “herein otherwise provided”, and it does not compare the amounts in section 39:4-104 with the amounts the schedule below lists.

What the Statewide Violations Bureau Schedule says about speeding

The New Jersey Courts Statewide Violations Bureau Schedule (njcourts.gov, PDF retrieved 29 Oct 2026) is headed “STATEWIDE VIOLATIONS BUREAU SCHEDULE (Updated on July 29, 2021)”. For “N.J.S.A. 39:4-98”, the schedule lists these rows, in this order:

“Speeding - exceeding limit by 1-9 miles per hour”	“$86.00”
“Safe Corridor or Construction Zone speeding - exceeding limit by 1-9 miles per hour”	“$141.00”
“Speeding - exceeding limit by 10-14 miles per hour”	“$96.00”
“Safe Corridor, Construction Zone or 65 MPH area - speeding - exceeding limit by 10-14 miles per hour”	“$161.00”
“Speeding - exceeding limit by 15-19 miles per hour. This offense is not payable for those holding a commercial driving license.”	“$106.00”
“Safe Corridor, Construction Zone or 65 MPH area - speeding - exceeding limit by 15-19 miles per hour. This offense is not payable for those holding a commercial driving license.”	“$181.00”
“Speeding - exceeding limit by 20-24 miles per hour. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 29:4-98.7, all fines have been doubled for any defendant charged with speeding 20 MPH or more over the speed limit. This offense is not payable for those holding a commercial driving license.”	“$201.00”
“Speeding - exceeding limit by 25-29 miles per hour. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:4-98.7, all fines have been doubled for any defendant charged with speeding 20 MPH or more over the speed limit. This offense is not payable for those holding a commercial driving license.”	“$221.00”
“Speeding - exceeding limit by 30-34 miles per hour. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:4-98.7, all fines have been doubled for any defendant charged with speeding 20 MPH or more over the speed limit. This offense is not payable for those holding a commercial driving license.”	“$241.00”
“Speeding - exceeding limit by 35-39 miles per hour. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:4-98.7, all fines have been doubled for any defendant charged with speeding 20 MPH or more over the speed limit. This offense is not payable for those holding a commercial driving license.”	“$261.00”

The schedule also prints two notes:

“NOTE: Exceeding the posted speed limit by 20 miles per hour or more in a Safe Corridor or in a Construction Zone requires a court appearance.”
“NOTE: Exceeding the posted speed limit by 40 miles per hour or more requires a court appearance.”

That is the schedule’s statement. The first of the doubled rows above cites “N.J.S.A. 29:4-98.7” and the other three cite “N.J.S.A. 39:4-98.7”; this page quotes each row as printed. The schedule has other rows and pages, for other offenses, that this page does not cover.

This page does not say what each listed amount includes, it does not add or compare the listed amounts with any other amount on this page, and it does not say whether a newer schedule exists. It does not say where any area named in the rows above is. Read any amount shown on your notice.

What the Motor Vehicle Commission summary says about points

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission page headed “NJ Points Schedule” (nj.gov/mvc, retrieved 29 Oct 2026) is an agency summary. It is not the text of a regulation, and this page does not quote a regulation. For “39:4–98” the summary lists:

“Offense”	“Points”
“Exceeding maximum speed 1-14 mph over limit”	“2”
“Exceeding maximum speed 15-29 mph over limit”	“4”
“Exceeding maximum speed 30 mph or more over limit”	“5”

That is the summary’s statement. This page does not say how that statement applies to a particular citation, license, or insurance policy. The summary has other rows, for other offenses, that this page does not cover.

Paths the notice describes (not which to choose)

Read who issued your notice, the court named on it, the charge, the date, any amount, and the response instructions printed on it. We do not tell you which path to choose or what step to take.

Violation.com does not collect New Jersey fines. If you upload a speeding notice, we summarize what the notice shows. It is not legal advice.

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Sources retrieved 29 Oct 2026:

Not legal advice. Not a law firm. Not affiliated with a government agency. Information Only.

Information on this page was last checked against official sources on November 7, 2026.