The signal velocity of a unit-step-function-modulated signal with a constant carrier frequency wc that is propagating in a linear dispersive medium with absorption (the Lorentz medium) is determined through numerical simulation and compared with that predicted by rigorous asymptotic theory. The exceptional agreement between these purely numerical results and the asymptotic theory, including the bifurcation of the signal velocity at carrier frequencies well above the medium resonance frequency, serve to validate completely both the description of the signal arrival afforded by the asymptotic theory and the physical propriety of this velocity measure in dispersive pulse propagation for input pulses with an instantaneous turn-on time.