# Odometer question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2007, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odometer-question/386936 "2007-01-06T15:48:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odometer-question/386936/1 "2007-01-06T15:48:56Z")
I was noticing the tenths part of my odometer today. I drive rather fast and noticed that the tenths were going from 1 to 2 to 3 etc… every three seconds or so… I was wondering, how fast would I have to drive for my tenths to move from number to number every second? In other words, if it were on 328 and 6/10’s of a mile, how fast would I have to drive for it to register 328 and 7/10’s of a mile in one second. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odometer-question/386936/2 "2007-01-06T16:15:16Z")
Come on, you can do simple math. 0.1 miles per second is how many miles per minute? Hint: how many seconds are in a minute? And that many miles per minute is how many mles per hour? problem solved. And you don’t even need to take off your shoes. ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odometer-question/386936/3 "2007-01-06T16:17:39Z")
I don’t do math. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odometer-question/386936/4 "2007-01-06T16:45:41Z")
That’s 10 seconds per mile, which is flying. Remember if you are doing 60 MPH you are going at exactly one mile per minute, or one mile/60 seconds. If you are going one mile/10 seconds, your speed is 6x as fast, which is 360 MPH, which is Top Fuel dragster territory. I’ll note that 3 seconds per marker is 30 seconds per mile, or 120 MPH. Hope you have your radar detecting device in good working order… ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odometer-question/386936/5 "2007-01-06T16:50:39Z")
Yeah, i drive about 885 when there isn’t too much traffic on the Beltway. So, my initial statement about the tenths moving every 3 seconds was a little off, maybe every 4-5 seconds. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odometer-question/386936/6 "2007-01-06T16:55:27Z")
I meant “i drive 85” not 885. Oops ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odometer-question/386936/7 "2007-01-06T23:40:57Z")
I was going to say wow you can do 885mph on the beltway! I’m still impressed at 85mph you must drive at unusual times to be able to do that consistanly