Behind the Wheel - Mar 12, 2008 - Go Green, Go Safe

[skidmark]

Go Green, Go Safe!

Ouch! Between my trip to work this morning and arriving back at home for dinner gas prices rose by six cents a litre. There are many strategies that you can employ to minimize the hard earned cash that you spend on fuel costs. Who knew that following them might have the additional benefit of contributing to traffic safety?

Driving at a steady speed as opposed to accelerating hard on the green and braking just as hard for the next red can save fuel and minimize wear and tear on your drive train and brakes. Keeping with the flow of traffic rather than dodging from lane to lane to get ahead is not only economical but predictable for other drivers. Predictablility will reduce the chance of a crash.

Having said that, I am sure that I will hear from the go with the flow crowd. They've been telling me this for years in an attempt to justify travelling faster than the speed limit. Well, increasing speed from 100 km/h to 120 costs you 20% more fuel. Reducing your speed from 100 km/h to 90 can save you 10%. I will be sticking to the speed limit for more reasons than just because it's the law now.

Aggressive city driving might save you 4% on the clock, but it can cost you up to 37% at the pump and produce five times the threat to your lungs through increased emissions. Males increase the possibility of a crash by half again and females may triple the risk by driving aggressively. Instead of concentrating on getting there first, think how aggressive behaviour can turn a 117.9 cent litre into the equivalent of a 161.5 cent litre and put you and others at risk.

The bottom line? Think green, drive defensively, save money and save lives. Simple!

Reference Links (http://www.drivesmartbc.ca/back_issues/2008_03_12.htm)

[TKRIS]

Originally posted by skidmark
Well, increasing speed from 100 km/h to 120 costs you 20% more fuel. Reducing your speed from 100 km/h to 90 can save you 10%. I will be sticking to the speed limit for more reasons than just because it's the law now.


Logical Fallacy
Fuel economy does not have a linear relation to speed as you assert. In most cases, the MPG difference between driving 100km/h and 120km/h is negligible.

Know what would reduce emissions, and get me huge savings at the pump? If they synchronized traffic lights.
It would reduce speeding and frustration, and, as a result, accidents.
Additionally, it would drastically cut back on emissions, and would cost almost nothing.

Gaetz Ave in Red Deer: drive speed limit(60km/h)=stuck at almost every light (7-9 lights on my drive).
Drive 90km/h=usually green lights the entire way (~10 minutes off a 25 minute drive).

Right now, it's far cheaper to drive 90km/h. If they synched the lights to the speed limit (which seems like a no brainer to me) there wouldn't be an advantage to driving 30 over, and people driving the speed limit wouldn't be punished by having it take 50% longer to get to work.
We're talking ~25-30% emissions cut, for a couple months worth of work by a handful of programmers...

[bspot]

:werd: Lots of cars hit peak fuel economy at 90-100.

[mx73someday]

Originally posted by skidmark
Go Green, Go Safe!
Driving at a steady speed as opposed to accelerating hard on the green and braking just as hard for the next red can save fuel and minimize wear and tear on your drive train and brakes.

The last thing I want to see is more slow accelerating at lights in Alberta, especially in the fast/left lane. Advice like this just supports people who impede the flow of traffic. I'm not saying everyone has to redline each gear from a stop, drivers need to pay attention to what's behind them also. So many drivers don't realize when they're driving too slowly for traffic.