Humberside Fire and Rescue Service

Road safety is an essential consideration at any time but of course now that our driving conditions are becoming a little more hazardous with the cold, wet weather, it is essential that we stay as focussed as possible. How fast are you actually travelling??

You are travelling at 30mph - MPH what exactly does that mean? Clearly it means how many miles you are travelling in an hour but what does it mean in practical terms?

Well, it is essentially an old money measurement that doesnt mean much to the younger generation but what we do know is that a mile is a very long way, can you visualise a mile clearly, probably not.

Equally an hour, 60 minutes is a very long time  trying standing still or not speaking for just two minutes, never mind an hour  you must agree it seems like for ever.

So you are travelling at 30 MPH in practical terms what does it mean?  Youll agree, it is hard to relate to.

Please dont drive along with a calculator working this out, you must concentrate when youre driving but talk about this with your friends when it is safe to do so.

A quick rule of thumb calculation to really get things into perspective is this if you multiply your speed in MPH by 1.5 it then gives you how many FEET PER SECOND you are travelling at.  All of a sudden you can visualise the vehicle moving along.

So, 30 MPH equates to 45 FEET PER SECOND, WOW! (A double decker bus is about 33 feet long)

Or if you are adhering to the 70MPH speed limit on a motorway you will in fact be shooting along at an astounding 105 feet per second  yes per second! (Over the length of 3 double deckers)

But even more amazing is this however sharp you are - if you see a problem ahead on the motorway, in the time it takes you to process the information and take action you will have travelled 157 feet which is almost the length of 5 double decker buses.