# Antelope Freeway 15 mins
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antelope-freeway-15-mins/712236
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 9, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antelope-freeway-15-mins/712236 "2015-02-09T16:51:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antelope-freeway-15-mins/712236/1 "2015-02-09T16:51:27Z")
I’m sure you’ve seen the signs on the freeway (we call 'em expressways around here) that gives the travel time to some major destinations or exits. I googled the tech involved and have an okay understanding of how they work.
But I’ve long wondered – is the time given the actual estimate of what it would take the average vehicle to reach that point, or do they cap the time based on the speed limit? That is, suppose the speed limit is 60 mph, but traffic is zipping along at a sprightly average of 75 mph. If Antelope Freeway is exactly 15 miles away, will the sign say 15 minutes (the time it will take you if you obey the speed limit) or 12 minutes (the time it will actually take the average vehicle)?
Anny
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antelope-freeway-15-mins/712236/2 "2015-02-09T17:31:09Z")
We have those signs here too (NE Florida)-often warn of wrecks and traffic too. It almost always averages out to 60 MPH, or less; once I did see the minutes \< miles however.
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### Author:  [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antelope-freeway-15-mins/712236/3 "2015-02-09T17:38:41Z")
Amazong. I never knew this was an actual thing. I only knew it from : [Firesign theater](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=195wKEs_nhk)
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### Author:  [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antelope-freeway-15-mins/712236/4 "2015-02-09T18:08:49Z")
> [@SantaMan](#):
>
> Amazong. I never knew this was an actual thing. I only knew it from : [Firesign theater](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=195wKEs_nhk)
That’s where I heard of this, too.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antelope-freeway-15-mins/712236/5 "2015-02-09T18:17:09Z")
if you lived here then you’d be home by now.
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/antelope-freeway-15-mins/712236/6 "2015-02-09T18:19:20Z")
Firesign Theatre used the “talking” roadsigns to illustrate Zeno’s dichotomy paradox. They marked distance (each half of the previous sign’s distance) not time.