Accident Reconstruction Speed Limits

Transportation Code, Section 545.3561 gives municipalities and counties the authority to temporarily lower prima facie speed limits at the site of a crash investigation using vehicular accident reconstruction. The municipality or county must use a transportation engineering official with experience establishing speed limits. For a municipality, the authority applies to a highway or part of a highway in the municipality, including a highway in the state highway system. For a county, the authority does not apply to a road or highway in the state highway system.
In establishing the speed limit, the municipality or county is not required to conduct an engineering and traffic study or comply with other provisions of this subchapter. To set the temporary speed limit, the municipality or the county must:
  • follow safety guidelines as developed by the department for setting regulatory construction speed limits in work zone areas,
  • provide notice to the department district engineer in the district in which the accident reconstruction is occurring at least 48 hours prior to the speed reduction, and
  • during the time that the accident reconstruction is being conducted, place and maintain temporary speed limit signs that conform to the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (TMUTCD), temporarily conceal all other signs that permit higher speeds, and remove the temporary signs and concealments when the accident reconstruction is complete.
  • Notification to the department district engineer should be documented using the Notification Speed Limit Reduction for Crash Reconstruction (TxDOT
    Form 2455
    ). The form is available via hyperlink--click on the form number above--or from the Traffic Operations Division.
If a traffic lane will be closed to accommodate the reconstruction investigation, the municipality or county must follow all department rules and guidelines on lane closures.
The department may remove any temporary speed limit signs or concealments of speed limit signs that are not removed by the municipality at the conclusion of the accident reconstruction.