Why do rollercoasters feel so fast, even if they’re going slower than we would normally drive?

Question

I live near Six Flags Over Georgia and used to visit occasionally. With a few exceptions, their coasters generally don’t get above 60 mph. Mindbender, for example, tops out at 50mph, but feels so ridiculously fast when you’re riding it. In a car on the highway, though, going 50 doesn’t feel like much of an event at all.

Why is this?

In: Physics

Answer 1

You don’t ‘feel’ velocity. You only feel acceleration.

That’s why you can be on a plane going hundreds of miles per hour but it ‘feels’ like you’re stationary.

Rollercoasters are all about accelerating and decelerating, so you feel that ‘speed’ quite a lot. In your car, you’re normally just driving in a straight line at a constant velocity so you don’t feel anything.