(a) No person shall operate a motor vehicle at a speed greater or less than is reasonable or proper, having due regard to the traffic, surface and width of the street or highway and any other conditions, and no person shall drive any motor vehicle in and upon any street or highway at a greater speed than will permit the person to bring it to a stop within the assured clear distance ahead.
(b) It is prima-facie lawful, in the absence of a lower limit declared pursuant to Ohio R.C. 4511.21 by the Ohio Director of Transportation or local authority, for the operator of a motor vehicle to operate the same at a speed not exceeding the following:
(1) Fifteen miles per hour on all alleys within the Municipality;
(2) A. Twenty miles per hour in school zones during school recess and while children are going to or leaving school during the opening or closing hours, and when twenty miles per hour school speed limit signs are erected, except that on controlled-access highways and expressways, if the right-of-way line fence has been erected without pedestrian opening, the speed shall be governed by paragraph (b)(5) hereof, and on freeways, if the right-of-way line fence has been erected without pedestrian opening, the speed shall be governed by paragraph (b)(6) hereof. The end of every school zone may be marked by a sign indicating the end of the zone. Nothing in this section or in the Manual and Specifications for a Uniform System of Traffic Control Devices shall be construed to require school zones to be indicated by signs equipped with flashing or other lights, or giving other special notice of the hours in which the school zone speed limit is in effect.
B. As used in this section, “school” means any school chartered under Ohio R.C. 3301.16 and any nonchartered school that during the preceding year filed with the Ohio Department of Education, in compliance with Rule 3301-35-08 of the Ohio Administrative Code, a copy of the school's report for the parents of the school's pupils certifying that the school meets Ohio minimum standards for nonchartered, nontax-supported schools and presents evidence of this filing to the jurisdiction from which it is requesting the establishment of a school zone.
C. As used in this section, “school zone” means that portion of a street or highway passing a school fronting upon the street or highway that is encompassed by projecting the school property lines to the fronting street or highway, and also includes that portion of a State highway. Upon request from local authorities for streets and highways under their jurisdiction and that portion of a State highway under the jurisdiction of the Ohio Director of Transportation, the Director may extend the traditional school zone boundaries. The distances in paragraphs (b)(2)C.1., 2. and 3. hereof shall not exceed 300 feet per approach per direction and are bounded by whichever of the following distances or combinations thereof the Director approves as most appropriate:
1. The distance encompassed by projecting the school building lines normal to the fronting highway and extending a distance of 300 feet on each approach direction;
2. The distance encompassed by projecting the school property lines intersecting the fronting highway and extending a distance of 300 feet on each approach direction; or
3. The distance encompassed by the special marking of the pavement for a principal school pupil crosswalk plus a distance of 300 feet on each approach direction of the highway.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to invalidate the Director's initial action on August 9, 1976, establishing all school zones at the traditional school zone boundaries defined by projecting school property lines, except when those boundaries are extended as provided in paragraphs (b)(2)A. and C. hereof.
D. As used in this section, “crosswalk” has the meaning given that term in Section 402.10(b). The Ohio Director of Transportation may, upon request by resolution of Council, and upon submission by the Municipality of such engineering, traffic and other information as the Ohio Director of Transportation considers necessary, designate a school zone on any portion of a State route lying within the Municipality that includes a crosswalk customarily used by children going to or leaving a school during recess and opening and closing hours, whenever the distance, as measured in a straight line, from the school property line nearest the crosswalk to the nearest point of the crosswalk is not more than 1,320 feet. Such a school zone shall include the distance encompassed by the crosswalk and extending 300 feet on each approach direction of the State route.
(3) Twenty-five miles per hour in all other portions of the Municipality, except on State routes outside business districts, through streets and through highways outside business districts, and alleys;
(4) Thirty-five miles per hour on all State routes or through streets and through highways within the Municipality outside business districts, except as provided in paragraph (b)(5) hereof;
(5) Fifty miles per hour on controlled-access highways and expressways within the Municipality, and on State routes outside urban districts, unless a lower prima-facie speed is established as provided by subsections (h) through (j) hereof or Ohio R.C. 4511.21;
(6) Fifty-five miles per hour at all times on freeways with paved shoulders inside the Municipality, other than freeways as provided in paragraph (b)(9) hereof;
(7) Fifty-five miles per hour at all times on all portions of freeways that are part of the interstate system and on all portions of freeways that are not part of the interstate system, but are built to the standards and specifications that are applicable to freeways that are part of the interstate system, for operators of any motor vehicle weighing in excess of 8,000 pounds empty weight and any noncommercial bus;
(8) Fifty-five miles per hour for operators of any motor vehicle weighing 8,000 pounds or less empty weight and any commercial bus at all times on all portions of freeways that are part of the interstate system and that had such a speed limit established prior to October 1, 1995, and freeways that are not part of the interstate system, but are built to the standards and specifications that are applicable to freeways that are part of the interstate system and that had such a speed limit established prior to October 1, 1995, unless a higher speed limit is established under Ohio R.C. 4511.21(L);
(9) Sixty-five miles per hour for operators of any motor vehicle weighing 8,000 pounds or less empty weight and any commercial bus at all times on all portions of the following:
A. Freeways that are part of the interstate system and that had such a speed limit established prior to October 1, 1995, and freeways that are not part of the interstate system, but are built to the standards and specifications that are applicable to freeways that are part of the interstate system and that had such a speed limit established prior to October 1, 1995;
B. Freeways that are part of the interstate system and freeways that are not part of the interstate system, but are built to the standards and specifications that are applicable to freeways that are part of the interstate system and that had such a speed limit established under Ohio R.C. 4511.21(L);
C. Rural, divided, multi-lane highways that are designated as part of the National Highway System under the “National Highway System Designation Act of 1995,” 109 Stat. 568, 23 U.S.C.A. 103, and that had such a speed limit established under Ohio R.C. 4511.21(M).
(c) It is prima-facie unlawful for any person to exceed any of the speed limitations in paragraphs (b)(1) through (b)(5) hereof or any declared pursuant to subsections (h) through (j) hereof or Ohio R.C. 4511.21 by the Ohio Director of Transportation or local authority and it is unlawful for any person to exceed any of the speed limitations in subsection (d) hereof. No person shall be convicted of more than one violation of this section for the same conduct, although violations of more than one provision of this section may be charged in the alternative in a single affidavit.
(d) No person shall operate a motor vehicle upon a street or highway as follows:
(1) At a speed exceeding fifty-five miles per hour, except upon a freeway as provided in paragraph (b)(9) hereof;
(2) At a speed exceeding sixty-five miles per hour upon a freeway as provided in paragraph (b)(9) hereof, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (d)(3) hereof;
(3) If a motor vehicle weighing in excess of 8,000 pounds empty weight or a noncommercial bus as prescribed in paragraph (b)(9) hereof, at a speed exceeding fifty-five miles per hour upon a freeway as provided in that paragraph.
(4) At a speed exceeding the posted speed limit upon a freeway for which the Ohio Director of Transportation has determined and declared a speed limit of not more than sixty-five miles per hour pursuant to Ohio R.C. 4511.21(L)(2) or (M), or for which Council has determined and declared a speed limit of not more than sixty-five miles per hour pursuant to paragraph (i)(2) hereof;
(5) At a speed exceeding sixty-five miles per hour upon a freeway for which such a speed limit has been established through the operation of Ohio R.C. 4511.21(L)(3);
(6) At a speed exceeding the posted speed limit upon a freeway for which the Director has determined and declared a speed limit pursuant to Ohio R.C. 4511.21(L)(2), or for which Council has determined and declared a speed limit of not more than sixty-five miles per hour pursuant to paragraph (i)(2) hereof.
(e) In every charge of violation of this section, the affidavit and warrant shall specify the time, place and speed at which the defendant is alleged to have driven, and, in charges made in reliance upon subsection (c) hereof, the speed which is prima-facie lawful at the time and place of such alleged violation, as the same is set forth in paragraphs (b)(1) through (b)(5) hereof or declared pursuant to subsections (h) through (j) hereof or Ohio R.C. 4511.21, except that in affidavits where a person is alleged to have driven at a greater speed than will permit the person to bring the vehicle to a stop within the assured clear distance ahead the affidavit and warrant need not specify the speed at which the defendant is alleged to have driven.
(f) When a speed in excess of both a prima-facie limitation and a limitation provided for in paragraph (d)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) hereof is alleged, the defendant shall be charged in a single affidavit, alleging a single act, with a violation indicated of both paragraph (b)(1), (2), (3), (4) or (5) hereof, or of a limit declared pursuant to subsections (h) through (j) hereof or Ohio R.C. 4511.21 by the Ohio Director of Transportation or local authority, and of the limitation in paragraph (d)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) hereof. If the Court finds a violation of paragraph (b)(1), (2), (3), (4) or (5) hereof, or of a limit declared pursuant to subsections (h) through (j) hereof or Ohio R.C. 4511.21, has occurred, it shall enter a judgment of conviction under such paragraph and dismiss the charge under paragraph (d)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) hereof. If it finds no violation of paragraph (b)(1), (2), (3), (4) or (5) hereof, or of a limit declared pursuant to subsections (h) through (j) hereof or Ohio R.C. 4511.21, it shall then consider whether the evidence supports a conviction under paragraph (d)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5) or (6) hereof.
(g) Points shall be assessed for violation of a limitation under subsection (d) hereof only when the Court finds the violation involved a speed of five miles per hour or more in excess of the posted speed limit.
(h) Whenever the Ohio Director of Transportation determines, upon the basis of a geometric and traffic characteristic study, that any speed limit set forth in subsections (b) through (d) hereof is greater than is reasonable or safe under the conditions found to exist at any portion of a street or highway under the jurisdiction of the Director, the Director shall determine and declare a reasonable and safe prima-facie speed limit, which shall be effective when appropriate signs giving notice of it are erected at the location.
(i) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (i)(2) hereof, whenever Council determines, upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, that the speed permitted by subsections (b) through (d) hereof, on any part of a highway under its jurisdiction, is greater than is reasonable and safe under the conditions found to exist at such location, Council may, by resolution, request the Director to determine and declare a reasonable and safe prima-facie speed limit. Upon receipt of such request, the Director may determine and declare a reasonable and safe prima- facie speed limit at such location, and if the Director does so, then such declared speed limit shall become effective only when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected at such location by the Municipality. The Director may withdraw the declaration of a prima-facie speed limit whenever in the Director's opinion the altered prima-facie speed becomes unreasonable. Upon such withdrawal, the declared prima-facie speed shall become ineffective and the signs relating thereto shall be immediately removed by the Municipality.
(2) Council may determine, on the basis of a geometric and traffic characteristic study, that the speed limit of sixty-five miles per hour on a portion of a freeway under its jurisdiction that was established through the operation of Ohio R.C. 4511.21(L)(3) is greater than is reasonable or safe under the conditions found to exist at that portion of the freeway. If Council makes such a determination, Council by resolution may request the Director to determine and declare a reasonable and safe speed limit of not less than fifty-five miles per hour for that portion of the freeway. If the Director takes such action, the declared speed limit becomes effective only when appropriate signs giving notice of it are erected at such location by the Municipality.
(j) Council may authorize by ordinance higher prima-facie speeds than those stated in this section upon through highways, or upon highways or portions thereof where there are no intersections, or between widely spaced intersections, provided that signs are erected giving notice of the authorized speed, but Council shall not modify or alter the basic rule set forth in subsection (a) hereof or in any event authorize by ordinance a speed in excess of fifty miles per hour.
Alteration of prima-facie limits on State routes by Council shall not be effective until the alteration has been approved by the Director. The Director may withdraw approval of any altered prima-facie speed limits whenever in the Director's opinion any altered prima-facie speed becomes unreasonable, and upon such withdrawal, the altered prima-facie speed shall become ineffective and the signs relating thereto shall be immediately removed by the Municipality.
(k) As used in this section:
(1) “Interstate system” has the same meaning as in 23 U.S.C.A. 101.
(2) “Commercial bus” means a motor vehicle designed for carrying more than nine passengers and used for the transportation of persons for compensation.
(3) “Noncommercial bus” includes, but is not limited to, a school bus, or a motor vehicle operated solely for the transportation of persons associated with a charitable or nonprofit organization.
(ORC 4511.21)