What is the penalty for driving at 50 in a 40 speed limit zone?
3 Answers
Driving at 50 in a 40 speed limit zone will result in a warning from the traffic police department without any fine or demerit points. According to regulations, if driving a motor vehicle in violation of speed limit rules falls under any of the following circumstances without causing consequences, a warning will be issued by the public security traffic management department: 1. Exceeding the speed limit by less than 50% on roads with a speed limit below 60 km/h; 2. Driving a motor vehicle on highways at a speed less than 20% below the prescribed speed limit; 3. Driving medium-sized or larger passenger trucks, school buses, or hazardous chemical transport vehicles on roads other than highways or urban expressways exceeding the speed limit by less than 10%; 4. Driving motor vehicles other than medium-sized or larger passenger trucks, school buses, or hazardous chemical transport vehicles exceeding the speed limit by less than 10%.
Last time, my friend got fined for speeding on a small urban road, and the memory is still fresh. Driving at 50 in a 40 km/h zone counts as 25% over the speed limit, resulting in 6 penalty points and a 200 yuan fine. The low speed limit on such roads is reasonable—there might be schools nearby or numerous residential intersections, making overtaking too risky. Nowadays, speed cameras are densely installed, even on small village roads. New drivers should note that speedometers have a delay, and the actual speed is often 2-3 km/h faster than displayed. Getting a ticket is the least of your worries; hitting an e-bike that suddenly darts out would be a real nightmare. From now on, I always keep the speed alert on my phone navigation turned on—it’s more accurate.
Let me break it down for you. If the speed limit is 40 km/h and you drive at 50 km/h, you're exceeding by 10 km/h, which is exactly 25% over the limit. According to traffic regulations, speeding between 20%-50% typically results in a 200 yuan fine and 6 demerit points. Losing those 6 points really hurts—with a Category C license, you only have 12 points total. Get caught again within six months, and you'll have to retake the course. Even veteran drivers think twice about rushing yellow lights now. Want to know why? The new-generation electronic eyes combine radar and cameras, starting to record red-light runners three seconds before the light turns red, let alone catching speeders. My advice? Install a dashcam with radar detector functionality.
