Of Speeding, Money and Time

I was reading PFadvice’s post on whether it is possible to drive slowly. I recalled coming across another article that had some interesting thoughts on the benefits of driving fast and I have come to the conclusion that I will always drive 5-10 miles slower or about 58-65mph when I am on the highway.

I prefer that speed because it is comfortable for me and I am able to see what is going on around me better. Meaning I take the time to check my mirrors and watch traffic a head of the car in front of me.
I also prefer that speed because of fuel consumption. True, it may not be a lot for short trips, but it all adds up.

So after reading Winston’s and PFAdvice’ articles on driving fast or slow, I could be swayed by the advantage of being on the road for a shorter time (which is nice in an emergency) or limiting the number of people who may get mad at me.

But a 1992 study put it best: The results of the study indicated that lowering posted speed limits by as much as 20 mi/h (32 km/h), or raising speed limits by as much as 15 mi/h (24 km/h) had little effect on motorist’ speed. The majority of motorist did not drive 5 mi/h (8 km/h) above the posted speed limits when speed limits were raised, nor did they reduce their speed by 5 or 10 mi/h (8 or 16 km/h) when speed limits are lowered.

People will drive what they are comfortable with, whether they save up to 20% on their fuel consumption or not. It is all about habits, unless gas gets to $6 a gallon, people won’t change. There are just some areas where time is more important than saving money.