Speeding is a dangerous way to waste money

September 25, 2008 by David Bell 

The cons of driving above the speed limit outweigh the potential benefits

Like most people, I drive to get from point A to point B. Also like most people, the freeway is where I spend a great deal of my time driving. However, unlike most people, I drive the speed limit. I maintain this speed and when I’m driving, I invariably get passed. It is painfully evident that more people speed than drive the speed limit. What isn’t evident to me is the reason why, because speeding really serves little purpose. In reality, it just causes problems.

The theory behind speeding is that you get to your destination faster. America has an extremely efficient system of roads designed to get us wherever we need to go. The speed limits are set to ensure people get to where they want to go safely. All it takes to be on time is to leave just a minute or two earlier than you would if you planned on speeding.

I don’t know about you, but I love money, so I’m going to discuss the monetary dynamic of speeding.

First, speeding wastes gas. According to fueleconomy.gov, “while each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.26 per gallon for gas.”

I don’t find it uncommon to see people driving around 80 or 90 mph. At 80 mph you are adding $1.04 per gallon of gas. At 90 mph, it’s an additional $1.56 per gallon. Just thinking about it hurts my wallet.

Apart from decreasing your gas mileage, when you get pulled over for speeding you get a ticket, which you must pay for. Furthermore, a judge will often sentence you to driver’s education, which is paid for out of pocket. On top of that, this can lead to points on your record and higher insurance rates. As the adage goes, time is money. Many people assume speeding saves time, yet in reality, it wastes money.

Next, speeding isn’t all that time efficient. Just recently, I was driving home and I was about a half-mile from my exit. That’s just under half a minute going 65 mph All of a sudden a rather large truck going about 85 mph blasted by me and pulled into my lane and used my exit. He was promptly stopped by a red light. I pulled up behind him at that same red light. Despite the fact that he was going 20 mph faster than I was on the freeway, I was able to catch up to him very quickly.

If something goes wrong, speeding increases the severity of auto accidents. An object with a large amount of mass (for example, a car) with great velocity carries great momentum. That large object can cause a great amount of damage and speeding increases the severity of this damage. In some cases, speed can even be a significant contributing factor to accidents, especially in the case of rollovers. The faster you go, the easier it is for your vehicle to roll over.

Speeding simply is not beneficial. With gas prices as high as they are, saving gas should be a priority. Speeding will oftentimes kill your gas mileage and will force you to the pump more frequently. Traffic tickets, traffic school and increased insurance rates will put a dent in your wallet. Speeding really does not save all that much time on city streets, due to the fact that stoplights often make you wait around for those who were going the speed limit.

Do your wallet a favor and slow your vehicle down. When you are on the freeway and driving the speed limit, you are already going more than a mile a minute. We really do not need to go faster, so just read the signs on the side of the road and drive accordingly.