Abstract
This study examined three questions: (a) is there a preferred speed that drivers find comfortable during travel, (b) how does it compare with the national maximum speed limit, and (c) what is its relationship to automobile noise and vibration? Taken into account were factors that made the study typical of driving on Texas highways. For example, all participants were selected on the basis of characteristics one finds in the driving population, and they used their own vehicles to drive a highway route which included typical highway settings with average traffic densities. To make the speed truly a matter of preference, drivers were not permitted to see their speedometers when they were driving. Results showed that the subjects in the study preferred on the average, to drive 57.22 mph on State highways. This suggests that the comfortable driving speed for Texas drivers today exceeds the national maximum speed limit by 2.22 mph. In regard to the 55 mph speed limit, the study revealed: (a) 37% of drivers preferred to drive 55 mph or less, and (b) 34% of the drivers preferred to exceed the 55 mph limit by 5 mph. With respect to the remaining 29% of the tested drivers that preferred truly excessive speeds, one must recall that according to the Department of Public Safety, approximately 10% of the Texas driving population are problem drivers or habitual offenders of traffic laws. There is ample reason to suspect that this class of drivers were in fact represented in the study. ...
Seal, Dennis James (1979). Comfortable driving speed evaluated. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -152776.