Gas Prices and Driving Speeds

My husband is an owner/operator of a car carrier and you are right to a large extent. He has slowed down to save on fuel mileage, but his buddies who are company drivers have not changed their driving style one bit! Many companies are turning down their trucks' engines so that they cannot go so fast.

Shelly

Back when in the Clinton years, things were pretty swell weren't they? Who was in charge of congress then?

Who's in charge of congress now?

And just how are things going?

Forget what you've heard in the media and do some research for yourself - find out which party has been the primary obstructionist force when it comes to domestic energy production, building more refineries, and then place blame accordingly.

I'm probably in a minority here with this particular point of view, and now I'm done with the rant.

And now I'll be on my way...

You are dead wrong about that. The hole is still growing and it will take MUCH more than 4 years to dig out. It will probably take that long just to stop the downward momentum.

If you think things are bad, you're wrong. They are much worse than "bad". And the politicians and accountants are all lying about it so we won't panic.

I'm still waiting for your further analysis about the Windfall Profits Tax on oil companies (signed into law in 1980 and rescinded in 1988). That was a period of FALLING oil prices.

You stated that the Windfall Profits Tax resulted in "gas lines". "Gas lines" and unavailability of automobile fuel occurred in the years prior to 1980, beginning with the oil embargo by Arab member nations of OPEC in 1973.

Please explain how a law passed in 1980 caused events in 1973.

Do a good job and maybe you, too, could be an economic advisor to McCain.

Thanks!

GregPaul

And whose candidate is on record as opposing offshore drilling, ANWR drilling, nuclear power, coal, oil shale, and any other form of energy self sufficiency other than the long term hope of a technological breakthrough. We need to be working on that but in the near term 5-10 years, we need to get shed of our dependency on foreign oil.

Even if somebody came up with a viable electric or hydrogen car today, the average age of our autos is about 9 years. That means we still have to feed gas powered cars for some time to come.

In the last few days, I have seen less speeders and a reduction of SUV's and trucks on the road. It seems to have been a rather "speedy" transition. I am not sure if the motivation is the price of gas, but if so, that is a good thing.

I don't like the idea of government invervention regarding resetting a national speed limit of 55 MPH. People need to understand how not to drive to fast for conditions, not exceed posted speed limits, and to understand whether or not they can afford the expenditures of higher gasoline usage and speeding tickets.

Off the soap box for now.

Thanks

And whose candidate is on record as opposing offshore drilling,

*That would be JEB! Bush, Crist and Schwarzenegger
(all Republicans). I think McCain has strategically positioned himself on both sides of this particular issue

ANWR drilling

*Sounds like McCain (he's Republican) but maybe next week he'll change his mind

nuclear power

*That's not Obama's position, so by default I figure you mean McCain

coal, oil shale, and any other form of energy . . .

*Swinging for the fences here. But you get a K.

. . . the average age of our autos is about 9 years. . . . .

*Wow! I've pampered a few sleds and got them up to their senior years. 'twould be nice if you'd give a link so I can share that info. To get an average of 9 years there sure would have to be a lot of old bombs registered out there. Maybe there's a lot of Checker Cabs and buses and other utility commercial vehicles in that equation. It's something I'd like to see.

Thanks!

GregPaul

$4 mark? Try almost $5 mark!

19.6 miles a day. At ~15mpg, I'm spending aout $200 a month - just to get to and from work. Major sucking going on.

And no - I can't afford to drive fast. I'm the 92 ford driving 35 in the 40. I estimate a savings of around 2.2 gallons/week driving conservatively... that's like getting fridays allotment of gas for free. and at $4.50 - $4.69 a gallon here, that's a savings of about $40 per month ($10 weekly).

I think those who are driving 90 in the 70 zone are nuts. And no - I'm not an old fogie... I'm under 30... Unlike most drivers of today, I understand the value of saving $40 / month. I figure I will eventually arrive at my destination - no matter what speed I am traveling. And so far that has always been the case.

I get honked at, middle-fingered, and had drivers push their car very close to my bumper. It has not persuaded me to change my conservative driving habits. Maybe I should put up a "honk if you're stupid" bumper sticker on my car!

Peace.

I have a 94 Yukon but don't concider it and old bomb it still looks good no rust 17 18 mpg and doesn't use oil passes emmisons every year.

In recent times, there have been very few years when the same party controlled both the White House and Congress and could do whatever they pleased, passed any legislation they wanted, and put the country on what they consider the right course. Six of those years were Jan 2001-Jan 2007. Everything you seem to want could have been accomplished then, and nothing since then has been revoked or repealed. According to your hypothesis, we should be living in Shangrila now.

That's cool. At least you're not talkin' 'bout that Datsun B210 with the unearthly color I saw last week that still hurts my rods and cones.

Like I said, I'm interested in the longevity of vehicles (in so many words). My '87 LeSabre met its end in a nearby parking lot collision in 2001 (the BIG EVENT that year). I saw the dude's white backup lights flash and I hit the accelerator; although missing my passenger he still managed to redesign the rightside tail panel.

He seemed a good bloke (I mean he seemed sober on a Saturday AM), so I didn't pursue the cops and insurance thing. The repair job would have cost more than the $500 trade-in value.

***

Best wishes.

GregPaul

On California freeways you can't maintain a safe driving distance from the car in front of you.
As soon as such a distance is set, it's as though that space you've allowed becomes a vacuum that instantly sucks in another car within five feet of your front bumper.

I, too, am driving more conservatively. By that I mean: keeping my speed on my daily 25 mile interstate commute to 70 MPH or less. (55 MPH speed limit). I haven't had too much aggresion to deal with outside of the crowding my bumper thing. I was thinking of a bumper sticker, "Want me to go faster? Send gas money!"

I just don't get it. Cars will zoom by @ 80-90 and in 5 to 10 miles I will catch up to them at one of the expressway bottlenecks. I just don't see the point in hurrying up to get to a stop.

I've always driven this way - it has nothing to do with the price of gas. If I see a traffic light turn red a block ahead of me, it makes no sense to maintain 40MPH until I get there and then brake quickly to a stop. I usually back off the throttle and coast up there. Doesn't get me where I'm going any sooner. Just wears out the brakes faster.

Thank you, John. Very well put. I sometimes wonder if the tailgating dummy will ever realise that he is slowing down traffic as I must reduce speed when he rides my bumper. My general practice is to drive five miles over the speed limit on a limited-access multi-lane highway. On a road trip with the Valentine One, the speed will climb to about seven to nine miles over the limit. If I am tailgated , I reduce speed to the posted limit and wait for her/him to go to pass me. If that does not work, I reduce speed to five miles under the limit. On a country road, I sometimes just pull over. Life is too short to be in such a hurry.

In Manhattan, if something yellow turns up in the mirror, I slow down. The same operation in Brooklyn if there is a Lincoln Town Car with TLC plates (Traffic and Limo Commission -- it means it's a car service) in that mirror. Those guys have been breathing too much carbon monoxide and the synapses are not firing on all cylinders resulting in aggressive driving to move their fare and pick up the next one. I have sympathy for the working stiff behind the wheel but I am not going to become a statistic in the transaction.

One of the great things about having the GPSr on the dash is that the ETA display reminds me each morning that I have left the house with plenty of time to arrive at work.

david

So very true, my friend! It is happening in Arizona as well, I guess with all the CA transplants...

Krieger

But nobody got mad about it...

Please don't even joke about this - the only thing that law helped was the number of speeding tickets being issued.

Today's cars (vs 1974) get higher mileage and produce less pollution. Let the consumer work it out without big brothers involvement.

Check out this story:
http://www.komonews.com/news/20656789.html

Mind you this is for the number one lane....

Dear K,

When I drove back to NYC from Naples, Florida, the worst state of tailgaters was Maryland.

david

They didn't get mad, they got even.

Europe, most notably Germany and the UK, (davidwynyard will probably concur) use traffic cameras to enforce speeding, aggressive driving and yes, tailgating.

The problem here also is that driving is not evolving towards the European way... think more Mexico City.

Add to these habits cell phone talking and texting, smoking, personal-grooming, donut munching, hot-beverage sipping drivers, and you have an interesting commute.

Krieger.

You forgot to mention the couple I observed recently playing cards at about 70mpg... at least they were both in the front seat.

jscott

Didn't MythBusters do an episode on this one? Or maybe it was the pickup with the tailgate down or up that I'm remembering?

This article was in our local newpaper today:

"Few drivers slowing down to save gas"

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article697409.ece

Driving home this afternoon, I saw a woman tailgating me in my rear view mirror. Not liking that behavior, I eased up on the gas and she sped by me in the other lane. She sped up and braked hard at the next stop light, and was stopped there just as I rolled up. It turned green, and I never had to stop.

The process of her speeding up then waiting at a red light while I overtook her in the next lane went on for five miles and six more stop lights! All this time, I never exceeded the speed limit, and only had to brake lightly to slow down before the lights turned green. (This was all coincidence since the lights along the road are not synchronized.)

The fact that she was driving a Mercedes probably meant that she could afford to have her brakes replaced twice as often as I do and that she can afford to buy a lot more gas than she really needs, but this sort of behavior never ceases to amaze me. We got a big chuckle out of it each time I passed her standing still! Some people will never learn!

Dear DB,

One must exercise compassion with those who cannot help themselves. It was not her fault when her mother dropped her on her head when she was a baby. The mentally challenged need compassionate protection and be allowed to work and possess the means to arrive there so that they can become as self-actualised as possible. The only line I would draw is that governing officials should be required to possess high mental acuity. Although the quotation wrongfully attributed to Nostradamus came true, that problem will end in mid-January.

Your compassionate brother, david

I don't rely on Coke or Starbucks to make a living. Am I allowed to express dissatisfaction if it costs me the first three hours of every workday to pay for the gas I will use in the next five hours?

It seems people have no clue about inertia and how rushing to a red light and accelerating uses up gas as well as brake pads. Not only that, since it takes more engine revolutions to accelerate from low gear up to highway speeds, these drivers are using up their engines too. By driving more smoothly, accelerating and braking more gradually and easing up on the accelerator when there is a red light, gasoline use, brakes and engine wear is reduced.

Henry

Isn't this one of the things that makes a hybrid so efficient? They convert all that braking and energy normally lost. Not that I think most people are aware of this, their just to busy racing to get somewhere quick.

That the Prius does convert some of the braking energy to charge the battery, it would all be lost in a jack-rabbit start....

suck

I like this joke along these lines...

One afternoon Ricky was speeding along the highway. He felt secure since the rest of the traffic was travelling at the same speed. Passing a speed trap, he was nailed by a speed detector and pulled over. The officer handed him the ticket and was starting to walk away when the driver said, "Officer, I may have been speeding, but this just doesn’t seem fair. There were lots of cars around me who were travelling just as fast. Why did 'I' get the ticket?" Turning towards him, the officer asked, "Have you ever gone fishing?" "Uhhhh, yeah," the driver replied. Grinning, the officer continued, "Ever catch 'all' the fish?"

I don't mind people voicing opinions at all, but just because someone doesn't agree with you, that doesn't make them any less intelligent. It is probably more genetic than anything. Some people feel more comfortable driving faster, while others feel better driving slower, which is why most freeways have two lanes. I don't think someone is stupid just because they are driving slow when I come up on them, nor do I think someone is stupid when they fly past me. Who knows what is going on in that persons life, or how their brain is wired. So, freely express your thoughts on your driving behaviour, but no need to comment on others in a negative way. If anyone is interested, I tend to drive the speed limit plus 10, which is fairly common around here. I know it is cheaper to slow down, and I understand inertia very well, but when I try to drive slow, I get physically anxious. I blame my Mom, she is the same way so I must have missed the patience gene.

Slowed down truck drivers are actually become a road hazard with other maniac drivers trying to pass with oncoming traffic. If you're gettig paid on a mile basis than you'll probably be losing out in the long run. Either way fuel prices suck. I think the goverments should be slowing down their tax collecting on fuel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have a civic hybrid. When you are stopped, the engine cuts off and operates on the battery. It's not the braking action itself that does it but you do need to be stepping on it to shut the engine off. Stepping on the gas recharges the battery. So, your savings is really in stop and go traffic or cities. We got it more because of the pollution factor and not trying to penny pinch gas. (Though it does help) And yes, if you have the AC on and you floor it, The wheel chair will win out of the gate. The tires will only spin if you coat them with oil or the tires are on the wet road paint.

The Prius doesn't stop the engine when you step on the brakes, if you lift your foot from the gas pedal and the battery is charged, the engine stops. If you take off slowly on flat ground, like in traffic, the engine never starts. I call it stealth mode, you can sneak up on people in parking lots....

The Prius also has a feature that charges the battery if you are going down steep hills you can shift into a braking mode. It keeps the car from free-wheeling, while charging the battery...

The engine doesn’t have to run even at cruising speeds if you ease up on the gas pedal and are on level or slight down-hill section of road…

And my tires spin if I'm not careful pulling into my garage..(A steep incline)

That's almost opposite from mine. If I see someone next to me at a traffic light that I know is going to try and cut me off, the only way I can get the speed up so that does not happen is when I see the other light turn yellow, I have to lift my foot up slightly off the brake to turn the engine back on, turn off the AC, then floor it when my light turns green and hope I get enough ummf. I think my 0-60 at that point is about 1 minute. With the AC on sometimes I swear I can push the car up to speed faster. (That's when I quote Stewie "dam you vile hybrid")

I used to be like that. Although the Prius has quite good acceleration, almost as good as my wife’s previous car, a bmw Z3, I seldom use it anymore... Let em go, let em in, etc. etc... I'm now the one you hate to be behind...

BTW are we off topic? Don't want to upset anyone...

First of all, I don't think we are off topic, so I'll continue this thread. What year is your Civic? I have a 2007, and the AC is run off the electric motor - not the gas engine. Consequently, I never run out of AC, and never have to turn off the AC for power. Everything else you've said is true, and it probably does tax the electric motor (acceleration-wise, because of the electric motor "boost") when leaving a stop light, but I've never had any problems when starting off from a stop light. I'm passed all the time by Prius models on the interstate, but that is NOT their environment - the city is (as long as the battery power holds up). We (in our civics) do much better on the highway than they do. Even at that, I still get 38-40 in town.......... Not only will I take it, I'm loving it!!

Joel

Not to mention the increased noise pollution in your car. As a side note, even airlines are reducing speed to cut down on fuel costs, read it on cnn.

Edit BTW what do you get on the highway? A lot of times I'm up around 60+ unless it's uphill... Your in town is about the same as the Prius' depending on how you drive..

I think I confused my self in my post. I was refering to the engine shuts off when I am stopped. Yes, the battery charges when you step on the brake and runs off fuel when you step on the accelerator.

This was on the local news tonight though it was funny. We have people driving the freeway on empty to avoid filling up. Dumb Ideal.
www.tankonempty.com

I don't see any benefit to driving on empty outside of judging how your gas gauge works. Every car is different and it's good to know what your safety factor is when your gauge hits E or the low fuel light goes off. But driving until you run out is a bad way to do it.

The manual states what size tank I have. When the needle hit E, I bought gas and filled the tank. Subtract what the pump put in from the published capacity, and that's how much I have left when the needle hits "E", or the light goes on, or the display shows "xx miles fuel remaing", depending on the car.

Dear John,

My brother ran out of petrol in his Prius. He had to drive to the petrol station using his battery alone. How far he could go would depend on how charged his battery was.

david

It's bad to operate your vehicle that low as frequently as people are doing it these days. Fuel is not always the cleanest and you do not want to get any sediment or water sent through the engine.
The filter takes care of some but will need to be placed much sooner and a lot of cars need to be primed to restart when they run out of gas. I always try and fill up when it hits 1/4 tank to help avoid costly bills in the future. Afterall, you'll still need gas whether your empty or 1/4 full so why risk costly repair bills?

I always fill up when I get to a half tank. As my mother use to say it is easier to fill the top half than the bottom half. I use to work on cars and was always replacing fuel pumps, filter, or cleaning carb for people that always run on empty. Our hwy dept as already given out 525 gal of gas this year on the freeway compared to 720 for the whole year of 2007.

I ran mine down all the way until it died just so I knew where the gauge would be when I run out. Now I know when the needle hits E I have about 75 miles left.

[quote=aophiuchus

And I'm not going to check to see...