Selenium test automation can be significantly accelerated by employing various best practices, including choosing appropriate web locators, optimizing test infrastructure, and reusing existing browser instances. Utilizing explicit waits over implicit waits or Thread.sleep() can enhance test performance, while parallel testing and cloud-based Selenium Grid solutions offer scalability and reliability. Additionally, leveraging Selenium 4's advancements, such as the WebDriver W3C protocol and relative locators, can further speed up test execution. Disabling image loading on web pages, employing headless browsers, and adopting data-driven testing for parameterization are also recommended strategies to improve efficiency. Adhering to these practices not only expedites Selenium tests but also enhances test stability and coverage, ultimately leading to better product quality.