In Germany a speed limit of 130 would save a billion euros each year[0]. It would also save fuel, i.e. carbon and particulate matter emissions

[0]: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092180092...

But it would cost people's time. I almost guarantee that even if you pay people minimum wage, the savings in people's time outweigh any extra fuel use.

Try following traffic laws for a week and time your commute. You’ll find that you’re not saving anything significant at all - and unless you have unlimited piece work you can swap to any time you have an extra 37 seconds there’s no economic value to cancel out the fuel and elevated wear and tear on your vehicle.

when it matters, i.e. traffic hours in the morning and evening, it probably would rather save time as less traffic jams will occur (more likely the higher the variance of velocities)

> the savings in people's time outweigh any extra fuel use.

opinion

Safety versus making fun vrooming noises. Collisions cost enormous sums even before you think of the thousands of people who have life-altering injuries, and the vast majority of the time the driver is not saving any time at all (just sitting longer at the next signal or patch of congestion), or an economically negligible amount of time.

Because speeding causes traffic congestion, there is a fair chance this would even be an economic win since tamer traffic moving consistent speeds is better for commercial drivers.

Speeding helps on very long trips through lightly trafficked areas: if you’re driving on a desert highway through the American southwest, sure, going 85 instead of 75 will shave an hour off of your all-day drive but the vast majority of trips are much, much shorter than that and the risks to others are much higher.

On the other hand, higher speeds use a LOT more fuel, so going faster needs to be balanced out with more frequent fuel stops. Especially for electric cars where charging can take a while. Can definitely see situations where driving faster takes longer overall.

Definitely - that’s why I described it as drivers seeking excitement since it rarely is a win from a logical standpoint but there’s so much culture around driving fast.

No they aren't. Poor safety leads to economic damage. A collision can delay thousands of people.