To Speed or Not to Speed
Posted on November 18,02019
“If speed kills me one day, don’t cry because I was smiling” – Paul Walker. After driving cars for many years in different countries throughout the world, I have developed a love /hate relationship with the highway. Cars today are quite capable of transporting us to and fro on the highway at speeds well above 70 MPH.
However, a tentative state trooper will have none of that if they catch you speeding while they are on patrol. Now you may be tempted to tell the officer that you just had your car tuned up at Smitty’s Auto Service and you were just testing it out, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
THE SITUATION – HOURS VS MILES PER HOUR (MPH)
Yesterday I had to drive some of my friends down to Ocala for a women’s conference. One of my friends was going to be the keynote speaker and she was running late when I got to her home to pick her up.
According to the GPS, the destination was about 45 miles away but we had only about 30 minutes to get there to be on time. Doing the straight math, if we drove 45 miles @ 70mph, we would arrive there in roughly 39 minutes. That would have been okay but I was traveling down I-75 and the traffic was thick.
“45 miles / 70 mph = 0.643 hours. To get this into minutes, multiply the 0.643 hours by 60 (60 minutes in an hour). Which equals 38.57 minutes”
THE OPTION: TO SPEED OR NOT TO SPEED
OF Course, “I did” just have an auto repair and the invoice to prove it, so my excuse was in place. Let’s face it, 9 minutes is quite a long time for an audience to wait unless the opening host is very witty.
In my speed-demon mind I tried to justify that driving at 90 MPH to get my keynote speaker in front of her audience on time would make everyone happy.
“45 miles / 90 mph = 0.5 hours. To get this into minutes, multiply the 0.5 hours by 60 (60 minutes in an hour). Which equals 30 minutes”
THE SENSIBLE THING TO PREVENT A SPEEDING TICKET
However, good sense and the fear of being pulled over to receive a $100+ speeding ticket convinced me that a compromise was needed. I set my cruise control to 80 MPH, turned on the radio to a good station and we arrived at the conference slightly late but to a warm reception from the audience.
THE CONCLUSION – DON’T SPEED
Your gas pedal is going to do whatever you ask it to do within the capabilities of your vehicle. Your car is more than capable of going over the speed limit.
Your decision to speed may seem to make you feel good but are really going to save time or feel good if you get stopped by the State trooper. I say, take your time, play some good music, enjoy your ride and let the State troopers pull over the ones who haven’t read this article yet!!
Happy Motoring
Colin Charles
“If speed kills me one day, don’t cry because I was smiling” – Paul Walker. After driving cars for many years in different countries throughout the world, I have developed a love /hate relationship with the highway. Cars today are quite capable of transporting us to and fro on the highway at speeds well above 70 MPH.
However, a tentative state trooper will have none of that if they catch you speeding while they are on patrol. Now you may be tempted to tell the officer that you just had your car tuned up at Smitty’s Auto Service and you were just testing it out, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
THE SITUATION – HOURS VS MILES PER HOUR (MPH)
Yesterday I had to drive some of my friends down to Ocala for a women’s conference. One of my friends was going to be the keynote speaker and she was running late when I got to her home to pick her up.
According to the GPS, the destination was about 45 miles away but we had only about 30 minutes to get there to be on time. Doing the straight math, if we drove 45 miles @ 70mph, we would arrive there in roughly 39 minutes. That would have been okay but I was traveling down I-75 and the traffic was thick.
“45 miles / 70 mph = 0.643 hours. To get this into minutes, multiply the 0.643 hours by 60 (60 minutes in an hour). Which equals 38.57 minutes”
THE OPTION: TO SPEED OR NOT TO SPEED
OF Course, “I did” just have an auto repair and the invoice to prove it, so my excuse was in place. Let’s face it, 9 minutes is quite a long time for an audience to wait unless the opening host is very witty.
In my speed-demon mind I tried to justify that driving at 90 MPH to get my keynote speaker in front of her audience on time would make everyone happy.
“45 miles / 90 mph = 0.5 hours. To get this into minutes, multiply the 0.5 hours by 60 (60 minutes in an hour). Which equals 30 minutes”
THE SENSIBLE THING TO PREVENT A SPEEDING TICKET
However, good sense and the fear of being pulled over to receive a $100+ speeding ticket convinced me that a compromise was needed. I set my cruise control to 80 MPH, turned on the radio to a good station and we arrived at the conference slightly late but to a warm reception from the audience.
THE CONCLUSION – DON’T SPEED
Your gas pedal is going to do whatever you ask it to do within the capabilities of your vehicle. Your car is more than capable of going over the speed limit.
Your decision to speed may seem to make you feel good but are really going to save time or feel good if you get stopped by the State trooper. I say, take your time, play some good music, enjoy your ride and let the State troopers pull over the ones who haven’t read this article yet!!
Happy Motoring
Colin Charles
Colin Charles has worked in the Automotive field for over 35 years. He has owned his own car dealership,
worked as an executive for VW and Audi in Europe, sold cars for a Toyota franchise and served on the
advisory board for an automotive program at a college. Currently, he enjoys life as a real estate investor
and developer but he still holds on to the close bonds he made in the automotive profession.
worked as an executive for VW and Audi in Europe, sold cars for a Toyota franchise and served on the
advisory board for an automotive program at a college. Currently, he enjoys life as a real estate investor
and developer but he still holds on to the close bonds he made in the automotive profession.
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