28-701A in Arizona: What This Speeding Citation Really Means

You got a 28-701A ticket and you’re wondering how an officer wrote you up for speeding when you weren’t even over the posted limit. That’s the whole point of this statute. Arizona’s “basic speed law” doesn’t care what the sign says. It cares whether your speed was reasonable for the conditions in front of you.

A 28-701A citation is a civil traffic violation for driving faster than is reasonable and prudent under existing conditions, even if you were under the posted limit. It carries a fine, three MVD points, and potential insurance consequences. You can fight it, take defensive driving school, or pay it – and the right move depends on your record and the facts of the stop.

Below is what the statute actually requires, how it differs from criminal speeding, and how a Scottsdale driver can push back on a citation that came from nothing more than an officer’s opinion.

What does ARS 28-701A actually say?

The statute is Arizona’s basic speed law. In substance, it requires every driver to control the speed of a vehicle so it is no greater than is reasonable and prudent under the existing conditions, having regard for the actual and potential hazards present. Speed must be controlled to avoid colliding with any person, vehicle, or other object on or near the highway.

That language matters. The statute does not say “don’t exceed the posted limit.” It creates a separate, condition-based standard. The posted limit is the maximum a driver may travel under ideal conditions. When conditions are not ideal, the lawful speed drops – and the driver, not the sign, is responsible for figuring out by how much.

Three phrases drive every case under this statute:

• “Reasonable and prudent.” A subjective standard. What a careful driver would do given what’s happening on the road.
• “Actual and potential hazards.” Not just hazards the officer can prove caused a problem – hazards that could have caused one.
• “Existing conditions.” Weather, traffic density, road surface, visibility, time of day, construction, pedestrians.

The breadth is intentional. It gives officers a tool to cite drivers who are technically legal under the posted-limit rule but who, in the officer’s judgment, were going too fast for what was actually happening on the road. You can read the full Arizona traffic code on the Arizona State Legislature website.

How is 28-701A different from criminal speeding (28-701.02)?

The “reasonable and prudent” violation is a civil traffic matter. Criminal speeding under ARS 28-701.02 is a class 3 misdemeanor – a crime, with the possibility of jail, probation, and a permanent criminal record.

The procedural difference is the one drivers feel. In a civil traffic case, the standard of proof is preponderance of the evidence – more likely than not. In a criminal speeding case, the State must prove the violation beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil cases also do not carry a right to a jury trial or to court-appointed counsel. Sentencing exposure, discovery practice, and collateral consequences are all different.

Criminal speeding is triggered by specific numerical thresholds set out in the statute. The basic speed law has no number attached to it. An officer can cite the violation at 35 mph in a 45 zone if a dust storm rolled in and visibility dropped to a hundred feet.

So while a civil ticket of this type does not put a misdemeanor on your record, it is not toothless. It still goes on your driving record, still hits your insurance, and still requires a response.

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What are the penalties for a 28-701A ticket in Arizona?

A conviction typically carries a fine in the range of $150 to $250 before state and county surcharges, which usually push the total higher. The amount varies by jurisdiction, and the local court will set the exact figure on the citation or at the hearing.

The bigger consequences are not the fine:

• 3 MVD points on your Arizona driving record.
• Insurance premium increases. Most carriers run periodic record checks and surcharge moving violations for three years or longer.
• License suspension exposure if points accumulate. The MVD can require Traffic Survival School or take other action when a driver builds up points within a short window.
• CDL consequences. Commercial drivers face heightened risk from any moving violation, including those committed in a personal vehicle. Multiple serious violations within a short period can lead to CDL disqualification under federal rules. The federal CDL disqualification rules apply across state lines.

If you drive for a living, deliver, rideshare, or hold any kind of safety-sensitive employment, this is not a “just pay it” ticket.

When do officers cite drivers under this statute in Scottsdale?

Because the standard is condition-based, these citations show up in predictable scenarios. Knowing when officers reach for the basic speed law helps you understand what they’re going to argue at a hearing.

• Weather. Monsoon rain, dust storms, fog, hail. A driver doing the posted 65 on the 101 in a downpour is a textbook target.
• Construction zones. Even when the temporary limit hasn’t dropped, narrowed lanes and workers near the roadway change what’s reasonable.
• Heavy traffic. Driving the limit while traffic around you is moving at 40 – and you’re tailgating to do it – invites this charge.
• Post-collision. This is the most common one. After any rear-end or low-speed crash, the officer often cites the at-fault driver on the theory that, by definition, the speed was too fast for conditions because the driver didn’t avoid the collision.
• Curves, hills, and limited sight distance. Roads where the posted limit assumes good visibility.
• School zones and pedestrian-heavy areas like Old Town Scottsdale.

The post-collision scenario is the one drivers fight most often, because the citation is essentially circular: you crashed, therefore you were going too fast, therefore you violated the statute.

How can you fight a 28-701A citation?

The same subjectivity that lets officers write these tickets cuts the other way at a hearing. The State has to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that your specific speed was unreasonable given specific, articulable conditions. That’s harder than it sounds.

Defenses we frequently develop:

• No articulated hazard. If the officer cannot describe a concrete condition – what the weather was, how heavy traffic was, what the road surface looked like, what specifically made your speed dangerous – the citation rests on conclusion, not evidence.
• Officer opinion vs. measurable evidence. The basic speed law doesn’t require radar, lidar, or any objective speed measurement. That sounds like an advantage for the State, but it’s also a weakness: there’s nothing tangible to anchor the officer’s testimony.
• Conditions did not warrant lower speed. If you were cited for going the posted limit in light rain on dry pavement, the State has to prove the rain was actually heavy enough to make that speed dangerous. Dashcam, weather records, and witness testimony can rebut the officer’s account.
• Post-collision causation. Just because a crash happened does not prove your speed caused it. A driver who was rear-ended, brake-checked, or cut off can challenge the assumption that the collision itself proves a violation.
• Reasonable driver standard. The question is what a reasonable driver would have done – not what an officer in hindsight thinks was best.
• Photographic and reconstruction evidence. Skid marks, vehicle damage, and scene photos sometimes contradict the officer’s narrative about how fast you were going.

An experienced Arizona criminal defense lawyer can pressure-test each of these angles. Michael Tamou and his team, including former prosecutors and law enforcement officers, know how these citations get written and what officers will say on the stand. That insight matters when the case turns on whether the officer’s judgment call holds up under cross-examination. You can review our case results for examples of outcomes we’ve achieved on traffic-related matters.

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Should you go to defensive driving school or fight it?

Arizona allows eligible drivers to take defensive driving school once every 12 months to dismiss a civil traffic citation. If you qualify, the citation does not go on your record, no points are assessed, and your insurance is generally not affected.

Defensive driving school is the right call when:

• You are eligible (you haven’t used it in the last 12 months and the citation qualifies).
• The facts of the stop are bad and a hearing is unlikely to win.
• You want certainty and the time cost of school is acceptable.

Fighting the ticket makes more sense when:

• You’re not eligible for school.
• You hold a CDL – commercial drivers are generally not allowed to use defensive driving school to clear a citation received in any vehicle.
• The officer’s case is weak (no articulated hazard, no measurement, post-collision assumption).
• You want to preserve school eligibility for a future, harder ticket.

For CDL holders especially, contesting the citation is often the only real option.

Talk to a Scottsdale traffic defense lawyer

A ticket under this statute looks small until you see what it does to your insurance, your points, or your CDL. The good news is that the same vagueness that makes this statute easy to charge also makes it possible to challenge – when you have someone who knows what to look for.

Tamou Law Group handles civil traffic and criminal defense matters in Scottsdale and across Maricopa County. Call 623-321-4699 for a case review and we’ll tell you straight whether your citation is worth fighting. See Red & Blue? Call Tamou.

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