American Samoa Driving 2026: 30 mph Is the Legal Cap

American Samoa has no urban/rural/motorway ladder of default limits. It has a single ceiling: ASCA 22.0323(a) makes it unlawful to drive any highway in the territory “at a rate of speed in excess of 30 miles an hour” — 48 km/h — and subsection (b) lets the Commissioner post only lower maximums after an engineering and traffic investigation. Signs here are in miles per hour, the territory is a US jurisdiction, and traffic keeps right.

Your case: If you arrived with a mainland-US or European licence, the number that matters is 30 — there is no faster road on Tutuila to graduate to, and the mountain road to Afono tops out well below it in practice.

Emergency Numbers in American Samoa

Police: 911 | Ambulance: 911 | Fire: 911

Save these numbers before you start driving. In American Samoa, emergency calls are free from any phone.

Speed Limits in American Samoa

There is one statutory figure and it is 30 mph (48 km/h) — the maximum on every highway in the territory, from the harbour road at Pago Pago to the lanes on Ta’u.

Everything below that comes from signs. ASCA 22.0323(b) lets the Commissioner fix lower maximums “upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation”, and those bind you only once the signs or markings are up; they can differ by time of day, by vehicle type and by weather. Village stretches and school frontages are where you will meet them.

Important: no sign in American Samoa can raise you above 30 mph. If a road feels like it should be faster, it is not.

Speeding Fines and Penalties

Speeding is an infraction, not a misdemeanour: ASCA 22.0360 makes any breach of the rules-of-the-road chapter an infraction unless the chapter says otherwise, and it presumes the registered owner was driving. The code sets the offence but not a published tariff, so we do not quote a dollar figure here — the amount is set under the Title 46 penalty provisions and at the court’s schedule. If you want a number before you travel, ask the Department of Public Safety, not a travel blog.

Traffic Rules and Regulations

Drive on the right — ASCA 22.0305 puts that duty in the code, not just in custom. Overtake on the left, and give way to traffic already in an intersection.

Seat belts are mandatory under ASCA 22.0333: the driver must be belted, front-seat passengers aged four to fifteen must be belted, and under-fours must be restrained under ASCA 22.0332. Buses and authorised emergency vehicles are exempt, as are vehicles never built with belts.

ASCA 22.0334 bans carrying unaccompanied minors in the back of a truck or pickup — a common local practice that is nonetheless an offence.

Using a hand-held phone while driving is prohibited. Hands-free systems are permitted.

Drink-Driving Laws and Alcohol Limits

American Samoa does not convict on a number alone. ASCA 22.0707 makes it a class A misdemeanour to drive while under the influence of liquor or drugs “to a degree which renders him incapable of safely driving”. Where there has been a crash with damage or injury, that charge may not be plea-bargained down if there is any evidence of intoxication.

The test result then does its work through ASCA 22.0607:

• 0.08% or more by weight — the law presumes you were under the influence;
• above 0.05% but below 0.08% — the reading is evidence the court may weigh;
• not more than 0.05% — a disputable presumption that you were not under the influence.

That 0.08% line was cut down from 0.10% in 1986. Refusing the test has its own consequences: ASCA 22.0601-22.0608 treat driving as consent to testing and provide for suspension on refusal.

Tyre Requirements and Regulations

Winter tyres are irrelevant in a tropical territory, and studded tyres are not a category the code deals with at all.

There is also no tread-depth figure in the territorial code. The vehicle-equipment chapter (ASCA 22.1101-22.1150) legislates lamps, brakes, horns, mirrors, windscreens and exhausts, and the inspection chapter (ASCA 22.1201-22.1231) requires only that a vehicle be kept “in safe and properly equipped condition” and pass initial and annual inspection. With no published figure to quote, the standard that actually bites is the annual inspection — arrive on tyres that will hold on wet volcanic tarmac.

Driving License Requirements

A visitor’s position is set by ASCA 22.0201(b)(2): a non-resident over 18 holding a valid licence from another jurisdiction may drive in American Samoa for up to 30 days. Military personnel stationed here and their families are exempt on their home-state licences.

Staying longer, or living here, means a territorial licence. Under ASCA 22.0204 the minimum age is 18, dropping to 16 for applicants who have completed an approved driver-education course, with parental consent and parental financial responsibility required below 18. Applicants take a written test on local rules and signs, a vision test (20/40 corrected) and a road test. If you already hold a licence from elsewhere, 22.0204(g) lets the Office of Motor Vehicles issue on production of that licence.

Always carry the licence itself: ASCA 22.0210 requires possession and display on demand.

Parking and Fuel

Parking rules vary by village. Look for designated parking areas and always check signs for time limits and payment requirements.

Fuel stations cluster around Pago Pago harbour and the western side of Tutuila; on the eastern and Manu’a roads, fill up before you set off rather than counting on finding a pump.

Practical Driving Tips for American Samoa

• Distances are short but slow: Tutuila is about 30 km end to end, and at a 30 mph ceiling on winding coast road that is an hour, not twenty minutes.
• Buses, dogs and pedestrians share the carriageway in villages — the 30 mph cap assumes you are watching for them.
• Sunday is quiet by custom in many villages; some roads pass close to church gatherings, where slowing to a crawl is expected.