The Danger of Speeding

The most common traffic law violation is speeding, which outnumbers all other traffic violations combined. But how much time do you actually save by speeding—and risking a costly traffic ticket or worse, causing a crash? Check out the time it takes to make a 30-mile trip at different speeds:

55 mph = 32.7 minutes

65 mph = 27.7 minutes (5 minutes saved)

75 miles per hour = 24 minutes (8.7 minutes saved)

This math assumes you can maintain a constant speed without slowing down for traffic, signals or curves in roads. In reality, you’d probably save only 4 minutes at best. And keep in mind, most trips are short—the average time saved on a 5-mile trip, driving 65 mph on a 45 mph posted road, is only 1.9 minutes.

Speeding is involved in about 13% of all crashes and 33% of all fatal crashes and increases the risk of an accident because there is less time and distance available to respond. Our reaction times (about one second for most drivers) don’t speed up just because we are driving faster.