1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to traffic regulations; speed limits; 
  1.3             providing for speed limits outside of urban districts 
  1.4             of 65 miles per hour on expressways and 60 miles per 
  1.5             hour on other highways; specifying speed violations 
  1.6             that the department of public safety may not record; 
  1.7             repealing authorization for commissioner of 
  1.8             transportation to issue orders designating speed 
  1.9             limits for purposes of fuel conservation; making 
  1.10            technical changes; amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, 
  1.11            sections 169.14, subdivision 2; 169.983; 169.99, 
  1.12            subdivision 1b; and 171.12, subdivision 6; Minnesota 
  1.13            Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 169.14, subdivision 
  1.14            5d; repealing Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 169.141.
  1.15  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.16     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 169.14, 
  1.17  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.18     Subd. 2.  [SPEED LIMITS.] (a) Except where no a special 
  1.19  hazard exists that requires a lower speed in compliance with 
  1.20  subdivision 1, the following speeds shall be lawful, but any 
  1.21  speeds in excess of such speed limits shall be prima facie 
  1.22  evidence that the speed is not reasonable or prudent and that it 
  1.23  is unlawful; except that the speed limit within any municipality 
  1.24  shall be a are maximum limit and any speed in excess thereof 
  1.25  shall be unlawful lawful speeds and no person may operate a 
  1.26  vehicle at a speed in excess of these limits: 
  1.27     (1) 30 miles per hour in an urban district; 
  1.28     (2) 65 miles per hour in other locations during the daytime 
  1.29  on expressways outside urban districts; 
  1.30     (3) 55 60 miles per hour in such other locations during the 
  2.1   nighttime on other highways outside urban districts; 
  2.2      (4) ten miles per hour in alleys alleyways; and 
  2.3      (5) 25 miles per hour in residential roadways if adopted by 
  2.4   the road authority having jurisdiction over the residential 
  2.5   roadway.  
  2.6      (b) A speed limit adopted under paragraph (a), clause (5), 
  2.7   is not effective unless the road authority has erected signs 
  2.8   designating the speed limit and indicating the beginning and end 
  2.9   of the residential roadway on which the speed limit applies.  
  2.10     (c) For purposes of this subdivision: 
  2.11     (1) "Daytime" means from a half hour before sunrise to a 
  2.12  half hour after sunset, except at any time when due to weather 
  2.13  or other conditions there is not sufficient light to render 
  2.14  clearly discernible persons and vehicles at a distance of 500 
  2.15  feet.  
  2.16     (2) "Nighttime" means at any other hour or at any time when 
  2.17  due to weather or other conditions there is not sufficient light 
  2.18  to render clearly discernible persons and vehicles at a distance 
  2.19  of 500 feet. 
  2.20     (3) "Expressway" means a limited access highway with 
  2.21  physically separated roadways, each of which contains at least 
  2.22  two lanes for motorized vehicles. 
  2.23     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 
  2.24  169.14, subdivision 5d, is amended to read: 
  2.25     Subd. 5d.  [SPEED ZONING IN WORK ZONES; SURCHARGE.] (a) The 
  2.26  commissioner, on trunk highways and temporary trunk highways, 
  2.27  and local authorities, on streets and highways under their 
  2.28  jurisdiction, may authorize the use of reduced maximum speed 
  2.29  limits in highway work zones.  The commissioner or local 
  2.30  authority is not required to conduct an engineering and traffic 
  2.31  investigation before authorizing a reduced speed limit in a 
  2.32  highway work zone. 
  2.33     (b) The minimum highway work zone speed limit is 20 miles 
  2.34  per hour.  The work zone speed limit must not reduce the 
  2.35  established speed limit on the affected street or highway by 
  2.36  more than 15 miles per hour, except that the highway work zone 
  3.1   speed limit shall not exceed 40 miles per hour.  Highway work 
  3.2   zone speed limits are effective on erection of appropriate 
  3.3   regulatory speed limit signs.  The signs must be removed or 
  3.4   covered when they are not required.  A speed greater than the 
  3.5   posted highway work zone speed limit is unlawful.  
  3.6      (c) For purposes of this subdivision, "highway work zone" 
  3.7   means a segment of highway or street where a road authority or 
  3.8   its agent is constructing, reconstructing, or maintaining the 
  3.9   physical structure of the roadway, its shoulders, or features 
  3.10  adjacent to the roadway, including underground and overhead 
  3.11  utilities and highway appurtenances. 
  3.12     (d) Notwithstanding section 609.0331 or 609.101 or other 
  3.13  law to the contrary, a person who violates a speed limit 
  3.14  established under paragraph (b), or who violates any other 
  3.15  provision of this section or section 169.141 while in a highway 
  3.16  work zone, is assessed an additional surcharge equal to the 
  3.17  amount of the fine imposed for the speed violation, but not less 
  3.18  than $25.  
  3.19     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 169.983, is 
  3.20  amended to read: 
  3.21     169.983 [SPEEDING VIOLATIONS; CREDIT CARD PAYMENT OF 
  3.22  FINES.] 
  3.23     The officer who issues a citation for a violation by a 
  3.24  person who does not reside in Minnesota of section 169.14 or 
  3.25  169.141 shall give the defendant the option to plead guilty to 
  3.26  the violation upon issuance of the citation and to pay the fine 
  3.27  to the issuing officer with a credit card. 
  3.28     The commissioner of public safety shall adopt rules to 
  3.29  implement this section, including specifying the types of credit 
  3.30  cards that may be used. 
  3.31     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 169.99, 
  3.32  subdivision 1b, is amended to read: 
  3.33     Subd. 1b.  [SPEED.] The uniform traffic ticket must provide 
  3.34  a blank or space wherein an officer who issues a citation for a 
  3.35  violation of section 169.141 169.14, subdivision 2, paragraph 
  3.36  (a), clause (1), (2), or (3), must specify whether the speed was 
  4.1   greater than ten miles per hour in excess of the lawful speed 
  4.2   designated under that section. 
  4.3      Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 171.12, 
  4.4   subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  4.5      Subd. 6.  [CERTAIN CONVICTIONS NOT RECORDED.] The 
  4.6   department shall not keep on the record of a driver any 
  4.7   conviction for a violation of section 169.141 169.14, 
  4.8   subdivision 2, paragraph (a), clause (1), (2), or (3), unless 
  4.9   the violation consisted of a speed greater than ten miles per 
  4.10  hour in excess of the lawful speed designated under that section.
  4.11     Sec. 6.  [REPEALER.] 
  4.12     Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 169.141, is repealed.  Any 
  4.13  order of the commissioner of transportation issued under that 
  4.14  section is void.