Dear Homewood, slow down (scientifically)
What is the difference in driving the full length of Saulter Road at 25mph (the speed limit) versus 35mph (40% over the speed limit)? It is 74 seconds. Driving 1.8 mile at 25mph takes 4 minutes 19 seconds. Driving 1 mile at 35mph takes 3minute 5 seconds. That is a different of 74 seconds.
Did you know driving 5 miles at 45mph versus 5 miles at 35mph is only 1 minute 54 seconds. That drive at 45mph takes a total of 6 minutes 42 seconds. What does a few more seconds cost?
It’s the red lights stupid
Higher speed won’t improve your travel time as much as red lights kill your travel time. The average full-stop red light will delay a trip by 3 minutes. Over five miles, you’d have to jump from 35 to 55 to find comparable gains with speed alone.
It’s not the stop signs
Coming to a full stop at a stop sign adds an additional 5 seconds to your travel time. That difference is negligible in the scheme of things.
All that matters is when you start
Leaving 10 minutes early over 15 miles is an insurmountable lead. The car leaving later would have to nearly double the speed of the car leaving first. If the car leaving first travels above 45mph, the later leaving car would never catch the first car by even doing 77mph.
