You can’t just drive a car as fast as you want. If you go over the “speed limit,” you get a speeding ticket as punishment. So who got the first speeding ticket ever? Walter Arnold, Walter Arnold, in 1896, for driving 8 miles per hour! Back then cars were very new and no one knew how to drive, so people kept crashing. That’s why the speed limit was only 2 mph – to keep everyone safe. Good thing we’re allowed to drive faster today, or we’d get nowhere!
Wee ones: If the speed limit is 8 miles an hour and you’re driving 7 miles an hour, are you driving too fast?
Little kids: If Walter Arnold was going 8 mph in a 2-mph zone, how many miles per hour was he over the speed limit? Bonus: If your street has a limit of 20 miles per hour, and the nearest busy street is 10 more than that, what is busy street limit?
Big kids: If you drive 20 miles an hour, how far can you drive in 4 hours? Bonus: If your family is driving to the beach 180 miles away, and the speed limit is 65 miles per hour, can you get there in 3 hours without breaking the limit? (Hint if needed: How fast would you have to drive to get there in time?)
The sky’s the limit: If a firetruck is zooming at 70 miles an hour, while some slow person is driving only 26 miles an hour, and your speed is halfway between, how fast are you driving?
Answers:
Wee ones: No, you’re good! 7 is less than 8.
Little kids: 6 miles per hour. Bonus: 30 mph.
Big kids: 80 miles. Bonus: Yes! You can get there by driving 60 miles per hour.
The sky’s the limit: At 48 miles an hour. 26 and 70 are 44 mph apart, so the halfway point is 22 from either of them.
