this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2026
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United States | News & Politics

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Need for speed? Driving above the speed limit costs you — and doesn't actually save much time (apnews.com)
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[–] dditty@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

When I take four hour road trips up north on the interstate, many drivers are doing ~80-85mph. Although fuel economy goes down, you can definitely shave off 20-30 minutes over the drive so I do understand why people do it. It never makes sense to speed around town or in short trips, however.

[–] Nonconfrontational@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Exactly this, by driving 20% faster you're cutting off 20% of the total trip time, which can be massive on long drives.

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

No, that's not how the math works out. Doubling your speed only halves the time it takes.

[–] Nonconfrontational@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

If I'm driving 100km and I drive 120km/h

Im arriving 20% faster..

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

No, you should actually follow through with the math. I used a simple example in hopes it would be obvious.

At a distance of 100km it take 60 minutes at 100kph. Change that to 120kph and it takes 50 minutes. 20% quicker would be 48 minutes. 20% faster gets you there 16.666% quicker.