ELi5 : Do overtaking vehicles appear to be travelling faster or slower than if I was stationary?

Question

If I’m in a car travelling at 60mph and am over-taken by a car travelling at 75 mph, do they appear to travel at the same relative speed as when I am stationary and and a car passes me at 15 mph?

Or is this different because we are both moving?

Thanks for any answers.

In: 0

Answer 1

It will appear the same way as it will take the same amount of time to pass you in either circumstance. However, some outside visual cues may give you different impressions of the speed of the other car, like how fast it’s tires are spinning and that in the first scenario the environment is whizzing by you.