Why I don’t drive too fast
by blogrdocI don’t drive slow. But I don’t drive too fast, either… hmmm…Maybe I do drive slow.
One thing I really try not to do is exceed the speed limit by more than 5 mph. I know I probably can go close to 10mph over speed limit with reasonably low risk of getting a ticket, but I don’t think it’s worth it. Here’s my take on some obvious reasons why:
1. It’s not safe: At higher speeds, your available reaction time dramatically decreases. Without too much imagination, I suspect that as reaction time decreases, incidents of accidents increase. Also at higher speeds, the severity of the accident is worse, likely more expensive and quality of life-threatening.
2. It wastes gas: The drag resistance is directly related to the cube of the speed. This means that to go from 60mph -> 61 mph will take a certain amount of extra gas and to go from 61mph -> 62 mph will take even MORE than that amount, so one and so forth. Since drag force resistance scales with the 3rd power of the speed, the gas efficiency penalty is actually extremely steep.
Popularity: 3% [?]
One Response to “Why I don’t drive too fast”
By yungchin on Mar 4, 2008 | Reply
Hi, thanks for leaving a comment on my post about the same topic. Maybe the joke at the end of my post gave the wrong impression - like you, I usually don’t drive too fast.
I tried it (legally on the German Autobahns) and it’s fun, but like you say: it’s very wasteful. You’re also right about the decreased time available to react, but there’s a simple fix for that: keeping more distance to the next car. Most of the time, users of the Autobahn behave responsibly and keep a safe distance, and as far as I know accidents are not a problem - at least statistically.
Greetings!