Speeding is more than just a risky behavior—it’s largely an exercise in futility.
Research conducted by scholars in Minnesota has debunked the common misconception that driving faster significantly reduces travel time. According to their study published in the prestigious Nature journal Communications Sustainability, speeding typically saves motorists less than a minute.
“Anyone aiming to cut just one minute off their journey would need to embrace speeding,” quipped Professor William Northrop, a study co-author from the University of Minnesota, in a statement. He further noted, “However, if your aim is a safe arrival and efficient fuel consumption, you might consider driving below the speed limit.”
The research team, led by Northrop, embarked on this project to evaluate the repercussions of excessive speed on fuel efficiency, time savings, and environmental emissions.
To test whether speeding actually saves time, scientists meticulously examined data from 120 million car journeys across the United States in 2021. Their analysis drew on comprehensive traffic data, including national road systems, speed limits, and topographical information provided by the US Geological Survey.
They restricted the sample to roads where the speed limit was 45 mph or higher.
The team found that, contrary to what many speed demons would have you believe, driving at or below the speed limit only corresponded to around 54 seconds longer per day when the average daily distance was 28.6 miles.
This extrapolates out to just over 6 minutes per week.
Despite failing to meaningfully expedite one’s car trip, a troubling number of motorists go pedal to the metal. According to the study, 43 percent of the trips included one incident of speeding, while drivers spent 12 percent of their time behind the wheel exceeding the speed limit.
“While internal combustion engine-powered vehicles have become significantly more efficient in the past decades, they have also become much more powerful,” said Northrop. “Driving fast is easier than ever.”
Unfortunately, wasting time isn’t the only side effect of this pedal crime. Going full-throttle can have your fuel tank gone in 60 seconds, per the study, which found that speeders burn 2.3 to 3 percent more gasoline on average.
Were drivers to comply with posted speed limits, it could save an average of $22 million and 6.7 million gallons of fuel — in other words, the juice is not worth the speed.
Researchers declared that the only thing that gas-holes accelerate is the decline of the ozone layer, estimating that ignoring speed limits wastes 7,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide every single day for light-duty engine-powered vehicles.
Ultimately, the study demonstrates that motorists can have their gas-guzzlers and drive them too.
“Our study examines an obvious yet difficult-to-implement intervention for major fuel savings that can be achieved without replacing our cars: driving slower,” concluded Northrop.