I actually remember when the speed limit was 55 and when we turned off lights to save energy. Anyone else remember that a few decades ago?I did a test with my 2006 Impala that has a 3.5L 6-cylinder engine. I was going to Rockford 3 days in a row on business. My car has a feature that will tell you what your MPG currently is and also an overall total. I drove to Rockford at different speeds each day. (67, 62, and 57 mph) At 67 mph my gas mileage was a little over 31 MPG. At 57 mph my gas mileage was a little over 38 MPG. That's 22% better gas mileage at the slower speed.
My son recently slowed down on the highway and his gas mileage also went up on his 2001 Neon at about the same percentage.
If we cannot slow down on our own, it would be best for all of us if the government lowered the speed limit back to 55. Just look at how much fuel will be saved if everyone just slowed down.
4 comments:
Excellent idea! (Although I well remember how much shit Nixon had to take over that. But it was also tied to his much-hated wage/price freeze. He was one very unpopular president, even before Watergate.)
I drive 55/60 in a big truck; 60 in my mid-size S-10 pickup. I don't feel as vulnerable driving slower in the big truck as I do in the smaller vehicle. However, if everyone else slowed down, my vulnerablity would diminish, right? Maybe.
Last month, my company truck was turned down, from 68 to 63mph. I predicted this was coming, in January and started driving slower then. So it didn't hurt my feelings. Some drivers have quit over this issue. Some just keep grumbling. But most are fairly philosophical; I guess they read the handwriting on the wall, too.
I'd like to see some stats on the accident rate since fuel skyrocketed. My guess is that there has been a drop in freguency, injuries/deaths and cost of repairs. People seem to be driving more responsibly. But not slow enough to save substantial amounts of fuel. Not yet. (I also think attendance at church has dropped off some; maybe?) I do know that at about 10pm, traffic is now roughly 90% trucks...
How much would you bet that if the roads are safer now, Bush will sit on the stats?
More control over the vehicle at slower speeds is documented. When you drive miles for pay, your pay gets hurt. Of course if you could only drive 500 miles a day at 55MPH then you would have no loss.
Airplanes have slowed down as well as ocean liners to save on fuel.
Simple energy saving ideas are not new, they are just not well advertised.
Indeed, we're in denial, wouldn't you say? Is it not our gawd-given right to drive fast?
There was an awful comedian (he had a breathlessly short show on TV; I was glad he remains unrewarded in his quest for fame and fortune). I don't remember his name but he had a show on XM radio (on ReichWing stations, which will show you why I was predisposed to find him unfunny.
He did long fictional "bits" about a wide range of issues. F'rinstance, one was about a normal person and a functional idiot doing their jobs as passenger screeners at a large airport. Or the one about a guy on Halloween who gives children a "courtesy" ride home in his beat-up old van; he also wore a dark uniform shirt and a shiny badge. And this jerk thought that this was quality "dark comedy"!
The only one that did make me laugh was one "activist's" push to slow NASCAR races down to 75mph top speed. I'll let you imagine how that would work...
I tell you true that by slowing down, I felt like I was in better control of a big truck, that I had more reaction time for the unexpected.
The solo driver will be impacted more than a team, which can drive pretty much 24/7, within the limits of the logbooks. At most, each driver can drive no more than 70 hours in the last eight consecutive 24-hour days. I know that sounds strange but that's the way the FED talks. And woe unto you if you get caught driving even 70.25hrs; not even if the infraction is because you made a small math error sometime in the last week.
I'm not knocking logbooks. How else can you keep track of drivers who don't believe in things like sleep? And some of them keep three logbooks going that purport to show them driving legal. I've never tried to do it, never even thought to try.
It's a helluva note when common sense has to be described and mandated.
Hey! Check this out:
U.S. drivers should think in gallons per mile: report
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080619/
sc_nm/fuel_efficiency_dc;
_ylt=AuCsmLjgtV3gsfrpvUcQafas0NUE
(Whew! That's long! Just paste it back together without any spaces.)
CHICAGO (Reuters) - If soaring gasoline prices have prompted you to look for a more fuel-efficient ride, using miles per gallon as a guide could lead you astray, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Instead, they propose a new standard based on gallons per mile, which gives people a far better idea of how much gasoline they might save by switching trading in that gas-guzzling minivan.
But maybe you already read it. It's says "Chicago"...
Post a Comment