A math teacher explains why driving at 140 km/h to save time isn't worth it: "Going from legal speed to illegal speed on the highway only saves me a few seconds."

Speeding is the most common traffic violation in Spain. According to data from the European Motorists' Association (AEA), two out of every three fines issued by the Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) each year relate to excessive acceleration , confirming the extent to which speeding is one of the most common habits acquired by drivers, despite the risks and penalties it entails.

In our country, the general speed limit on highways and motorways has been set at 120 km/h for decades. It's a figure etched in the minds of every driver, yet many still frequently exceed it, whether out of habit, a false sense of control, or the widespread belief that there's a certain amount of tolerance before being penalized. For this reason, it's not unusual to frequently see some motorists traveling at 130 km/h or 140 km/h with no apparent remorse.

Obviously, the faster you drive, the less time it takes to travel a given distance. But is it really worth running faster to gain a few seconds? That's what mathematician José Ángel Murcia asks in a video posted on his official TikTok profile, where he calculates how many seconds are saved per kilometer depending on the speed at which you drive.

Driving at 140 km/h only saves about 4 seconds per kilometer, according to Professor Murcia's calculations.

The math teacher's reasoning is simple yet effective, and to make it more understandable, he gives a clear and easy-to-follow example. "When I'm traveling at 60 km/h," he explains in front of a blackboard, "I travel 60 kilometers in one hour and one kilometer in one minute. In other words, the time it takes me to travel one kilometer is 60 seconds. If I were traveling at 120 km/h, it would take exactly half that time, because the speed is double; it would take 30 seconds."

From here, Murcia jumps to the crux of the matter, explaining why driving at 140 km/h instead of 120 km/h makes a minimal difference. The calculations support his theory, as only four seconds and a bit more are saved per kilometer. “Between 120 and 140 km/h, I barely gain a few seconds on each kilometer,” he explains. He then adds: “Just four seconds and a bit to complete a kilometer.”

Fines for speeding can reach 600 euros and 6 points if you drive at more than 190 km/h.

The key, he says, is to understand that the relationship between speed and time is inverse, and that the time savings progressively decrease as speed increases. That is, no matter how much you accelerate, the actual time benefit becomes increasingly smaller, and what's more, this excessive speed can carry consequences in the form of fines that, in many cases, outweigh the benefit obtained by arriving a few seconds earlier.

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On a motorway, where the speed limit is set at 120 km/h, traveling at 150 km/h carries a €100 fine, with no loss of points on your license. However, if the speed reaches between 151 and 170 km/h, the fine increases to €300 and the deduction of two points. Fines increase as speed increases, reaching up to €600 and the loss of six points for traveling at 191 km/h or more.