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Strunk

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Is it considered a sin to drive faster than the posted speed limit?
 
Strunk said:
Is it considered a sin to drive faster than the posted speed limit?
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If it were, the lines for reconciliation (confession) would be out the door!

Sinning is not the same as breaking a civil law, and vice versa (although many commandments and other such moral imperatives found their way into secular laws). It seems that this type of question regularly appears in these forums. I am not sure why people would think that way.
 
St. Thomas would say that it is ordinarily a sin to disobey civil laws. However, I know other moral theologians/philosophers have distinguished between purely penal laws and…well, whatever the not-purely penal laws would be called (the term escapes me at the moment). At any rate, purely penal laws, according to such thinkers, are not a sin to violate. I don’t remember too much about it - it’s been a while since I read anything about it.

I know of some priests who advise that there has developed something of a customary allowance of a limited transgression of the speed limit - say, five mph over, or something like that - and it would not be a sin to violate the law to that extent.

Not really an answer, just thoughts on the matter.

In any case, if it is a sin, I don’t think it would mortal unless one were driving dangerously fast.
 
chaunceygardner said:
If it were, the lines for reconciliation (confession) would be out the door!

Sinning is not the same as breaking a civil law, and vice versa (although many commandments and other such moral imperatives found their way into secular laws). It seems that this type of question regularly appears in these forums. I am not sure why people would think that way.
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Well Scripture says to follow the laws of the land and to submit yourselves to civil authorities (as long as this does not conflict with your faith). I suppose in that sense it is, and it lacks integrity.

As far as it being venial or mortal, I thought the difference between the two was that mortal sin was sin committed premeditatedly, knowing it was wrong. If I am correct, it is a mortal sin if you intentionally drive over the speed limit. If you do so accidentally or unnoticingly, it is venial. If it is a sin.

More importantly, Scripture tells us to follow our personal convictions, though we do not and should not push them on others. Regardless of whether speeding (or breaking the law in general) is a sin, if you feel convicted at all, but you do it anyway, it is a sin.

My best “Catholic” answer 🙂
 
ApologiaSophia said:
As far as it being venial or mortal, I thought the difference between the two was that mortal sin was sin committed premeditatedly, knowing it was wrong.
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Not the only thing. Mortal sin is a sin of grave matter (serious sin) committed with sufficient knowledge and full consent of will. I’m not sure that even if you willingly go a few miles over the speed limit in a rural area that’s a sin at all-let alone grave matter.

BUT-if you speed in an urban area where you know there’s a risk of you getting in an accident and seriously injuring somebody…well…
 
Interesting topic.

I think that it could be a sin against the command to not murder. But that would be awful extreme. As someone pointed out there is a difference between speeding and being reckless and that is where I think the intent lies. I suppose also that one could argue that for the most part a speeding ticket is a tax. A revenue builder. The law just may back this reasoning up.
in my state there are different speeding tickets for different situations. If I am going 90 in a 35 it is reckless and dangerous. If I am going 55 in a school zone, same thing. But if I am on a rural blacktop highway in the middle of nowhere and I am going 65 instead of 55 that could be considered a revenue ticket.
When the feds mandated the speed limit 55 certain states (Montana) that are serious about states rights countered by issuing “speeding” tickets that were 5 dollars. They didn’t;t even call it speeding. They called it a waste of a natural resource ticket. When I lived in Montana I knew some areas where you could pay five dollars in cash and be gone with a receipt. (incidentally there were some insurance companies that would not insure in Montana during this time.)
I suppose intent and reality are the judge here. If the intent is to be reckless and dangerous then it is a sin. If not it seems it could be a “tax”

Similarly, the “government” always tells you it does not have financial motives for these laws. that they are concerned about your “safety” but in my state it is a 26 dollar ticket to not wear your seat belt but you don’t need a helmet to ride a motorcycle 🤷
Safety? or revenue…
 
The bizarre thing is that, in some ways, where I am, it’s almost impossible not to break this law. And that, I think in certain conditions it might actually be more of a sin to follow this law than to break it. I now that sounds weird, so let me explain.

First of all, whenever I’m asking myself whether something is a sin - I’m always going to refer back to Jesus’ statement about the most important commandment: Love God and love your neighbors. Thus I can see speeding being a sin if you are doing it in such a way so as to endanger your safety and that of others.

Onto the trickier aspects.
  1. When I’m on the highway here, there are times when literally everyone is “speeding”. We’re all “speeding” and there are police cars parked on the side of the road waiting - presumably - for speeders, but since none of us are going more than 10 MPH over the speed limit, they don’t stop anyone. Generally, they’ll only pull you over if you’re going more than 10 MPH over. I’m not saying that completely gets you off the hook, but it is a touch confusing - I mean the civil authorities say the speed limit is 55 MPH on paper, but they’re not actually enforcing it unless you’re going 65+ MPH, despite the fact that they have all the time and opportunity to do so. Therefore, in a sense, it’s like… is the real speed limit 55 or 65? Is it sorta 65 by default? When it comes to actions that are not necessarily inherently immoral, such as speeding, if the civil authorities are bound only to the spirit of the law, are we still bound to the letter of the law when it comes to sin? I’m not so sure, especially when I see a police officer in a presumably non-emergency situation (no lights, no sirens, nada) passing me when I’m already “above” the limit.
  2. One thing that makes it impossibly confusing in my locale is that there’s a new rule: in the left lane of the highway, if the weather is fine, then you cannot drive under the speed limit. By the letter of the law, that makes about zero sense - because technically the only way you’re NOT going to violate it is if you do precisely 55 MPH throughout the entire trip. Due to the laws of physics, I’m pretty sure that’s an impossible task. In practice, here again, it’s almost entirely about the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law, because you can go 10 MPH under the limit or 10 MPH above it and they’re generally not going to pull you over.
  3. Earlier I stated that there might be an occasion in which following the law could be more sinful than breaking the law, so let me cover that now. Again, the point is: love your neighbor as yourself, i.e., don’t put your fellow man at risk of harm. If your desire to follow the speed limit (which is usually a good desire) means that you are constantly glancing at your speedometer and thus taking your eyes off the road, I think you’re putting your fellow man at risk more so than if you were simply paying attention to the road. So I think it’s important first and foremost to focus on driving safely, the speed limit is a complimentary but subordinating element.
 
VeritasLuxMea said:
The bizarre thing is that, in some ways, where I am, it’s almost impossible not to break this law. And that, I think in certain conditions it might actually be more of a sin to follow this law than to break it. I now that sounds weird, so let me explain.

First of all, whenever I’m asking myself whether something is a sin - I’m always going to refer back to Jesus’ statement about the most important commandment: Love God and love your neighbors. Thus I can see speeding being a sin if you are doing it in such a way so as to endanger your safety and that of others.

Onto the trickier aspects.
  1. When I’m on the highway here, there are times when literally everyone is “speeding”. We’re all “speeding” and there are police cars parked on the side of the road waiting - presumably - for speeders, but since none of us are going more than 10 MPH over the speed limit, they don’t stop anyone. Generally, they’ll only pull you over if you’re going more than 10 MPH over. I’m not saying that completely gets you off the hook, but it is a touch confusing - I mean the civil authorities say the speed limit is 55 MPH on paper, but they’re not actually enforcing it unless you’re going 65+ MPH, despite the fact that they have all the time and opportunity to do so. Therefore, in a sense, it’s like… is the real speed limit 55 or 65? Is it sorta 65 by default? When it comes to actions that are not necessarily inherently immoral, such as speeding, if the civil authorities are bound only to the spirit of the law, are we still bound to the letter of the law when it comes to sin? I’m not so sure, especially when I see a police officer in a presumably non-emergency situation (no lights, no sirens, nada) passing me when I’m already “above” the limit.
  2. One thing that makes it impossibly confusing in my locale is that there’s a new rule: in the left lane of the highway, if the weather is fine, then you cannot drive under the speed limit. By the letter of the law, that makes about zero sense - because technically the only way you’re NOT going to violate it is if you do precisely 55 MPH throughout the entire trip. Due to the laws of physics, I’m pretty sure that’s an impossible task. In practice, here again, it’s almost entirely about the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law, because you can go 10 MPH under the limit or 10 MPH above it and they’re generally not going to pull you over.
  3. Earlier I stated that there might be an occasion in which following the law could be more sinful than breaking the law, so let me cover that now. Again, the point is: love your neighbor as yourself, i.e., don’t put your fellow man at risk of harm. If your desire to follow the speed limit (which is usually a good desire) means that you are constantly glancing at your speedometer and thus taking your eyes off the road, I think you’re putting your fellow man at risk more so than if you were simply paying attention to the road. So I think it’s important first and foremost to focus on driving safely, the speed limit is a complimentary but subordinating element.
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Those are good points.

Incidentally I once received a speeding ticket in a state that had no speed limit.
Apparently 135 MPH in a Jetta is not “safe and prudent”…
My argument that my skis stayed on my ski rack was not enough to impress the judge. But my argument that the law was unclear was. I won when I asked the Judge at what speed do they start writing tickets. he said about 85 MPH and I said that should be the posted speed limit then. He agreed and since I was one of the first people to receive a ticket since the new law he let me go. (but I know in my heart I deserved a ticket) By the way, there is now a speed limit in that state.
 
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