Criminal speeding in Maine is what you’re charged with when you drive 30 miles per hour or more over the posted limit. Under Title 29-A, Section 2074 of the Maine Revised Statutes, that conduct is a Class E crime, the same classification Maine uses for offenses like theft and assault.1Maine Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A 2074 – Rates of Speed A conviction can bring jail time, a fine of up to $1,000, a license suspension, and a permanent criminal record. It is not a traffic ticket you pay by mail.
The 30-Over Threshold
Maine draws a bright line at 30 mph over the posted limit. Twenty-nine over is a civil traffic infraction. Thirty over is a crime. The posted limit is the reference point, so 65 in a 35 zone triggers the charge just as readily as 95 in a 65.1Maine Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A 2074 – Rates of Speed
The statute also requires the complaint to specify the exact speed you allegedly traveled. That precision matters: a vague or inconsistent charging document can give your attorney something to work with. For speeds under 30 over on the Maine Turnpike or the Interstate Highway System, the offense remains a civil infraction with a minimum fine of $50, not a criminal charge.1Maine Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A 2074 – Rates of Speed
Jail Time and Fines
Because this is a Class E crime, the penalties track Maine’s low-level criminal offenses rather than the traffic schedule. The maximum jail sentence is six months in a county jail.2Maine State Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 17-A 1604 – Imprisonment for Crimes Other Than Murder First-time offenders are rarely locked up for speeding alone, and judges often lean toward fines or probation. Jail becomes a real possibility when aggravating facts are present: weaving through traffic at extreme speeds, a prior record, or an accident that injured someone.
Fines can reach $1,000 under the general sentencing provisions for a Class E crime, and courts routinely add surcharges. Section 2074 also doubles the standard fine for certain speeding violations, which can push the total higher.1Maine Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A 2074 – Rates of Speed The amount depends on how far over the limit you were, road conditions, your history, and whether anyone was put at risk.
License Suspension and Getting Back on the Road
A criminal speeding conviction can lead to a suspension through the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The length depends on your record and any additional charges filed with it.
If your license is suspended, you have 10 days from the effective date to request a hearing with the Secretary of State in writing. The state must then hold the hearing and issue a decision within 30 days of receiving your request. If you missed the 10-day window because you never received actual notice or were physically unable to respond, the Secretary of State can waive the deadline and reopen the matter.3Maine Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A 2483 – Hearing Request
Reinstatement requires completing the suspension period, paying a reinstatement fee, and satisfying any conditions the court or BMV imposed. The BMV may also require you to file an SR-22 certificate of insurance proving you carry liability coverage before restoring your driving privileges.4Maine.gov. Financial Responsibility
The Driving to Endanger Add-On
Prosecutors often pair a criminal speeding charge with driving to endanger under Title 29-A, Section 2413. It is also a Class E crime, but it carries mandatory penalties the court cannot waive: a license suspension of 30 to 180 days and a minimum fine of $575. If the driving caused serious bodily injury, the charge escalates to a Class C crime, which carries up to five years in prison and a suspension of 180 days to two years.5Maine State Legislature. Maine Revised Statutes Title 29-A 2413 – Driving to Endanger
Driving to endanger has no fixed speed threshold. It turns on whether the driving, viewed objectively, endangered people or property with criminal negligence. Prosecutors reach for it when the speed was extreme, the road was busy, or conditions made the driving especially reckless. If you’re convicted of both charges from the same incident, the penalties stack, and the 30-to-180-day suspension applies regardless of what the court does with the speeding count.
What a Conviction Costs You Later
This is where criminal speeding diverges most sharply from a regular traffic ticket. A Class E conviction is a criminal record, and that record follows you.
Insurance
Insurance companies treat a criminal speeding conviction as a major red flag. Expect a sharp premium increase, often lasting three to five years depending on the insurer. Some carriers will drop you outright, pushing you into the high-risk market where rates are substantially higher. The financial ripple from one conviction can exceed the fine itself many times over.
Employment and Background Checks
Employers who run background checks will see a criminal conviction. For jobs that require a clean driving record, such as commercial driving, delivery, or any position involving a company vehicle, a criminal speeding conviction can disqualify you. Even in unrelated fields, some employers treat any criminal conviction as a negative factor.
Travel to Canada
Maine borders Canada, and many residents cross regularly. Under Canadian immigration law, a person with a criminal conviction, including for dangerous driving offenses, may be deemed criminally inadmissible and denied entry. Whether a Maine criminal speeding conviction triggers this depends on how it maps to an equivalent Canadian offense. If it does, you would need to wait at least five years after completing your sentence and then apply for individual rehabilitation, or seek a temporary resident permit for shorter trips.6Government of Canada. Overcome Criminal Convictions For anyone who regularly crosses into New Brunswick or Quebec, this consequence alone may outweigh the fine.
Sealing the Record
Maine does not offer expungement, but it does allow certain criminal records to be sealed. Class E convictions are eligible if you meet strict conditions: at least four years must have passed since you fully completed every part of your sentence, including fines, probation, suspension, and community service. You cannot have any other criminal convictions in Maine or elsewhere since completing the sentence, and you must have no pending criminal charges.7State of Maine Judicial Branch. Sealing Your Criminal Record A sealed record no longer appears on most background checks, but the four-year wait and clean-record requirement mean many people live with the conviction for years.
Fighting the Charge
A criminal speeding charge is not an automatic conviction. The state must prove you were speeding beyond a reasonable doubt, and you are entitled to a court-appointed attorney if you cannot afford one. Several defenses come up regularly.
Challenging the Speed Measurement
Radar and lidar devices need regular calibration and proper operation. If the equipment had not been recently tested, or the officer was not adequately trained on the specific device, the reading may be unreliable. Defense attorneys routinely request calibration records and training certifications in discovery. Small errors can make the difference between 29 over, which is civil, and 30 over, which is a crime. That matters most when the alleged speed sits right at the threshold.
Improper Speed Limit Posting
If the speed limit sign was missing, obscured by vegetation, or placed in a confusing location, you may argue you had no reasonable way to know the posted limit. This comes up often where limits change frequently, such as transitions between rural and residential stretches. The defense does not excuse the speed itself, but it can undermine the prosecution’s calculation of how far over you were driving.
Necessity
In rare cases, a driver may argue that speeding was necessary to avoid a greater harm, such as swerving around a sudden obstacle or rushing someone to emergency medical care. This defense requires showing that no reasonable alternative existed and the threat was immediate. Courts set a high bar; a vague feeling of danger or running late will not qualify.
Negotiating a Reduced Charge
Many criminal speeding cases are resolved through plea negotiations rather than trial. A prosecutor may agree to reduce the charge to a civil speeding infraction, particularly for a first-time offender with an otherwise clean record. The difference is substantial: a civil infraction carries no criminal record, no jail risk, and far less impact on insurance and employment. Whether the prosecutor will negotiate depends on how far over the limit you were, the circumstances, and your history. Having an attorney handle the conversation significantly improves the odds of a favorable outcome.
What Court Looks Like
Because this is a crime, the process looks nothing like paying a ticket by mail. You will be arraigned before a judge, typically in district court, where you enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. If you cannot afford a lawyer, you have a constitutional right to have one appointed, since the charge carries the possibility of jail time.
At arraignment the judge may set bail conditions, though for a straightforward speeding charge this is usually a personal recognizance release with no cash required. A not-guilty plea sends the case toward a trial date. A guilty plea or plea agreement leads to sentencing either at that hearing or at a later date. Judges have broad discretion in Class E sentencing and consider your record, the specific speed, road conditions, and whether anyone was endangered. For a first offense with no aggravating circumstances, probation or a fine without jail time is the most common outcome. The conviction itself tends to be the penalty that lasts longest.