Speed Discrepancy

Do you know if your vehicle has a speed discrepancy?

This week I had a student driver who was practicing in their personal vehicle prior to their drive test in Carlton, VIC. Most roads in this area are 40 km/h.

The image I’ve attached to this post is their speed limit measured through a phone app which is technically more accurate when the driver is sitting at a consistent speed on a straight road for a good length of time.

You can see in the above image that for 30 minutes the student driver never exceeded 36 km/h on the speed measurement app, and never exceeded 40 km/h on the vehicle’s speedometer.

If I taught this student driver to drive at 5 km/h under, for 30 minutes of their driving, they would have technically been at 9 km/h under.

This speed discrepancy is just one reason why we should be driving to the speed limit, if it’s safe to do the speed limit. Key word: “safe.”

Speed limits are getting lower and lower. Driving too slow can also cause problems. People should be managing speed appropriately and safely.

5 to 10 under, if it doesn’t suit the conditions, is not an appropriate way of managing speed!

For more information on speed discrepancy, read this article: https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/11/need-for-speed–why-some-speedometers-lag-behind-reality-

To measure you vehicles in-built speedometer, download a speed app on your mobile phone. Make sure your phone is mounted safely and you are driving on a flat surface at a consistent speed to get an accurate reading. 

Read the previous blog post about steering hand position: https://www.crudedriving.com.au/education/9and3steering/