Judging from the amount of time it took him to drive off that cliff and reach the horizon. Based on the shot from Ep 1 when the tracker met up with him after the pod race.
As for eye protection, this is the lucasverse, where explosions in space make noise and spacecraft maneuver like WWII fighter planes.
I still want a speeder though, no tires means never having to spend 2hours in a tire shop getting a stem lube.