Roadside Chat - Pedal to the metal is flirtin' with disaster
Why do we do it? We know exceeding the speed limit is illegal and dangerous, but we still manage to push the pedal down just a bit further when we’re in a hurry or we’re distracted or we think others are just going too slow.
It’s a mathematical fact that speeding won’t save you much time. A University of Sydney study collected data from 106 drivers over a period of five weeks. The results showed a surprisingly small amount of time saved by speeding, just 26 seconds a day and 2 minutes a week. More importantly, these savings come at a cost of considerable injuries and fatalities.
Another researcher broke it down like this:
- 15–mile trip, 55 mph speed limit, 10 miles over the speed limit: 2.51 minutes saved
- 30–mile trip, 55 mph speed limit, 10 miles over the speed limit: 5.04 minutes saved
- 50–mile trip, 55 mph speed limit, 10 miles over the speed limit: 8.4 minutes saved
Here are a few questions to think over.
- Is saving a few minutes really worth the risk of a ticket or even worse, a crash?
- What is the potential cost of a crash? Damage to your property, yourself, or others, or even your life?
- What happens to the ones who are waiting for you if you don’t make it?
Here’s your earworm for today - Molly Hatchet’s classic 1979 song Flirtin’ with Disaster
So far this year in Iowa, 45 people have been killed in traffic crashes. That’s an increase of two since last Friday. In Iowa in 2022, there were 338 traffic-related deaths. To see statistics published daily by the Office of Driver Services, go to the daily fatality report at https://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/stats/daily.pdf