New Study Looks At Why Drivers Speed

To do that study, Texas A&M transportation experts put  GPS devices in the cars of 80 drivers who travel the highways and roads around College Station.  The study included drivers of all ages, both men and women. 

For the purpose of the study speeding was defined as travelling ten miles or more above the speed limit.

Researcher Laura Higgins says they found that most of the speeding occured not on the interstate, but on the rural Farm-to-Market roads with speed limits between 55 and 60 miles per hour.


As for habitual speeders, the study found personality factors that are linked to aggressive driving and road rage. Higgins says they made those findings during focus groups when they asked participants about their reaction to posted speed limits.

"Their response would likely be, well, that's a target, you should aim for around there. And a couple of them even jokingly said, well that's the minimum speed that you should be going.  You should at least be keeping up with that."

Higgins says when they asked participants what it would take to get them to stop speeding, they responded that in-vehicle devices showing how much fuel they used at each speed would have a big impact on their driving behavior.

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