168
American Drivers Think Speeding Is Okay Because Everyone Else Is Doing It
(www.jalopnik.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2026
168 points (92.4% liked)
Fuck Cars
16516 readers
525 users here now
A place to discuss problems of car centric infrastructure or how it hurts us all. Let's explore the bad world of Cars!
Rules
1. Be Civil
You may not agree on ideas, but please do not be needlessly rude or insulting to other people in this community.
2. No hate speech
Don't discriminate or disparage people on the basis of sex, gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or sexuality.
3. Don't harass people
Don't follow people you disagree with into multiple threads or into PMs to insult, disparage, or otherwise attack them. And certainly don't doxx any non-public figures.
4. Stay on topic
This community is about cars, their externalities in society, car-dependency, and solutions to these.
5. No reposts
Do not repost content that has already been posted in this community.
Moderator discretion will be used to judge reports with regard to the above rules.
Posting Guidelines
In the absence of a flair system on lemmy yet, let’s try to make it easier to scan through posts by type in here by using tags:
- [meta] for discussions/suggestions about this community itself
- [article] for news articles
- [blog] for any blog-style content
- [video] for video resources
- [academic] for academic studies and sources
- [discussion] for text post questions, rants, and/or discussions
- [meme] for memes
- [image] for any non-meme images
- [misc] for anything that doesn’t fall cleanly into any of the other categories
Recommended communities:
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
I would agree with the several comments on the engineering and design of the higher speed roads being able to handle increased limits, but I don't think the road or even most of the cars' ability to go that fast are the problem. It's the drivers. Raising the limits means people will go that much faster (the ones who are even bothering to stay close to it), and the risks will be higher and more deadly.
There is also the issue of fuel efficiency vs. speed and how little time is gained for a lot more gas used. Even with modern cars there's a limit of aerodynamics and how much more it takes to push air out of the way faster as you get higher in speed. Of course this pales compared to how many people I see idling in parking lots on their phone, and then complain about gas prices. There's a disconnect somewhere.
During the Arab Oil Embargo they lowered speed limits on highways to 50 mph, which is the most economical speed to drive.
Windows up is more efficient also, as is fully inflated tires.
I tested my car as a hypermiler over thousands of miles on dead flat roads empty of other vehicles, my daily commute was 78miles. The most economical speed was 30mph in 5th gear with cruise control on. For most people that's not a practical speed for any kind of long journey,but I was getting over 100miles per uk gallon in the summer (hot weather helps with fuel economy, as does not having headlights or ac on). I got through so many audiobooks driving so slowly!
ooooh ... you know what, maybe i'll avoid highways and stick to roads with 30 mph speed limits, too, actually. i drive a hybrid so it might be pretty chill and cost next to nothing.
If you don't mind sharing, what car is that, and what year of manufacture?
A Skoda Fabia Estate Greenline Diesel 1.2 litre engine, made in 2011. I took it past 180,000 miles until a deer jumped out and put and end to things.
Economy isn’t just about fuel economy. Less unsprung weight and highly inflated tyres reduce fuel consumption, but low profile tyres result in damaged wheel rims and lack of adhesion results in lack of control.
Alloy wheels with low profile tyres are lighter, but are also more prone to irreparable damage.
If you have the smallest steel rims that fit over your brakes (and the highest profile tyres to match manufacturer recommendations), you are less likely to have a puncture or damaged wheel, especially in potholed regions. (I live in Victoria, Australia).
If you have the correct tyres inflated to the correct pressures, they will last longer and provide the most optimal grip.
That is not universally accurate. Even at the time, there were vehicles that were more efficient at higher speeds than 55mph. But those weren't American designs, of course so they were of course ignored in favor of the general majority. And those vehicles that were more efficient at higher speeds, got screwed for simplicity.
I did wonder about that actually, questioned it.
It seems odd wind resistance would be higher at higher speeds and not linear to me as well. Idk why but it's counterintuitive to me.
Drag is not linear, it is proportional to the velocity squared.
However that is only one of the big factors. Vehicle shape and aerodynamics have a large effect on drag. This is one of the reasons for the flush door handles on some vehicles, lowered drag means increased efficiency. Then you also have the efficiency of the engine and power train at various speeds and power output.