Have you ever wondered if GPS companies clock your speed as you fly down the highway? Many GPS devices these days tell you how fast you're going based on calculations made by the satellites they link up with. This means that someone, somewhere, if they wanted to, could see how fast you're going. In the future, could this result in getting a ticket? It's unlikely, unless police start working directly with GPS manufacturers.
The bottom line is, GPS companies, like TomTom, know how fast you're going. Thankfully though, they're not really interested in you personally, but rather, people as a whole. To them, aggregating data to figure out driving habits, is what they do to help better their software and overall navigation experience.
TomTom has released some of the numbers that they've gathered, and the results may surprise you. According to their article, titled "U.S. Drivers Not The Speed Demons You May Think." TomTom gives average speeds of drivers around the country. Here are their findings in a nutshell:
"Even drivers in the fastest states tend to stay within the speed limit range."
- Mississippi average is just over 70 MPH (speed limits are 65-70 MPH)
- New Mexico average is 70 MPH (speed limits are 70-70 MPH)
- Idaho average is 70 MPH (speed limits are 65-75 MPH)
- Utah average is 70 MPH (speed limits are 65-75 MPH)
- Alabama average is 70 MPH (speed limits are 60-70 MPH)
On Germany's Autobahn, which is a road network where no speed limit is enforced, drivers typically travel over 100 MPH. In comparrison, America's fastest road, I-15, sees speeds of 77.67 MPH, with some areas hitting 80 MPH. The average speed limit posted on that highway is 70 MPH. It was also noted that the average speed in the middle part of the US (where the fastest highways are located) exceeded 67 MPH, yet the average posted speed limit is 70. Washington D.C. was crowned the slowest state, averaging just 46 MPH (due to high congestion).
The findings are interesting, to say the least. Overall, TomTom found that "Data from GPS users show drivers stay within speed limit range on most major U.S. highways; the fastest highway, "America’s Autobahn," is on I-15 in Utah and Nevada, while the slowest road is in Washington D.C."
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