{"id":3594,"date":"2026-07-17T05:11:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T05:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3594"},"modified":"2026-07-17T05:11:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T05:11:40","slug":"over-120-million-car-trips-study-finds-speeding-only-saved-drivers-54-seconds-on-average","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3594","title":{"rendered":"Over 120 million car trips, study finds speeding only saved drivers 54 seconds on average"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It is something to think about as gas prices stay elevated throughout the summer months and add pain to day-to-day driving and seasonal road tripping.<\/p>\n

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Instead, abiding by posted speed limits can save U.S. drivers millions of dollars at the gas pump and eliminate millions of gallons of fuel each day, according to a\u00a0study published Thursday\u00a0in the Nature journal Communications Sustainability. That is fuel that, when burned, emits planet-warming gases into the atmosphere. To top it all off, changing driving habits wouldn\u2019t even add a full minute to a driver\u2019s commute.<\/p>\n

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University of Minnesota researchers analyzed 120 million vehicle trips across the United States from four Wednesdays in 2021 using driving data on national road networks, speed limits and U.S. Geological Survey elevation data. The analysis included roads with speed limits of 45 mph (72 kph) and higher.<\/p>\n

More than 43% of the studied trips included at least one instance of speeding, and drivers spent nearly 12% of their driving time going faster than the speed limit.<\/p>\n

They found that if drivers of light-duty, conventional internal combustion engine vehicles actually drove at posted speed limits, it could save an average of $22 million, based on fuel costs at the time, 6.7 million gallons of fuel and 57,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide every day. The researchers said that is comparable to taking about 5.5 million passenger vehicles off the road.<\/p>\n

And while drivers say that speeding saves them precious time, researchers found that is not really the case. With an average daily driving distance of 28.6 miles (46.03 kilometers), driving at or below the posted limit corresponds only to about 54 seconds longer per day.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf your goal is to shave one minute off your time, then you\u2019ve got to drive fast. If your objective is to get to your destination safely and to save fuel, then you might drive slower than the speed limit,\u201d said William Northrop, mechanical engineering professor at the University of Minnesota and study co-author.<\/p>\n

The research considered battery-electric vehicle efficiency only in California given the level of EV adoption in the U.S. at that time. Based on the California modeling, \u201cWe find that driving slower is beneficial for EVs as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Interestingly, the study found differences among states. Nevada saw elevated speeding prevalence as well as high speed excess. There was high speeding prevalence in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina, though those states did not necessarily exhibit high speed excess. Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and South Dakota showed both low speeding prevalence and speed excess.<\/p>\n

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The cost of faster driving today<\/h4>\n

Driving faster increases a vehicle\u2019s energy use and the emissions from its engine, as well as reduces efficiency. Vehicle engines have become increasingly more efficient over the past several decades even as vehicles have gotten bigger and more powerful. But speed limits have also climbed since the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act was implemented, which mandated 55 mph national speed limits amid the 1970s energy crisis.<\/p>\n

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Accounting for the average cost of gas today and more vehicle miles traveled, that increases to roughly $26 million and 7.2 million gallons of fuel that Americans collectively could save each day this year just by not putting the pedal to the metal.<\/p>\n

One limitation of the research is that slower driving could impact traffic patterns, which could play a role in efficiency.<\/p>\n

However, it is especially timely as U.S. drivers remain\u00a0price-sensitive to volatile gas prices\u00a0as the war in Iran has sent the cost for\u00a0a gallon of fuel above $4 this year. Experts have said there are a number of ways to improve one\u2019s gas mileage, including something as simple as slowing down. Less fuel needing to be purchased because of better efficiency could influence oil market demand, which in turn could impact pricing.<\/p>\n

Rob Middleton, associate research scientist of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the research, said the study was well-done. But he also noted that the fuel saved from driving more slowly still only represents a fraction of daily gasoline consumption in the U.S., which is about 375 million gallons daily.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a big number, but it\u2019s a small fraction,\u201d Middleton said. \u201cThis is a \u2018freebie\u2019 in that it doesn\u2019t really cost anyone anything to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe market penetration of selling EVs is still small, so we still need fuel, we still need ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles, we\u2019re still going to have them for a very long time,\u201d he added. \u201cThings that we can do to either make the new ones better or to improve our fuel supply, we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X:\u00a0@alexa_stjohn. Reach her at\u00a0ast.john@ap.org.<\/p>\n

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___<\/p>\n

The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s\u00a0standards\u00a0for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at\u00a0AP.org.<\/p>\n

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Slowing down could save $26 million and 7.2 million gallons of fuel daily in the U.S., University of Minnesota researchers found.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-autos"],"yoast_head":"\nOver 120 million car trips, study finds speeding only saved drivers 54 seconds on average - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=3594\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Over 120 million car trips, study finds speeding only saved drivers 54 seconds on average - 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