About a year ago I knew I needed to get rid of my car, but wasn't in a good place or position to do so, nor did I have the resources to buy something else that could be more efficient. Instead of settling with 23mpg in my 97 Subaru Legacy Wagon AWD, I learned how to drive more efficiently and got up to 40mpg regularly. The van I drove for work, a 97 Chevy Venture minivan, using the same techniques went from a rated 18mpg to 38mpg for the 6 mile distance I drove it constantly. Driving that way was safer, more efficient, less polluting, saved wear on my brakes, made the engine last longer, and put less stress on the roads. Amazingly, it's also *faster* in city driving. If everyone drove like that, insurance costs would go down since here would be far less collisions, and taxes would go down from less money being needed for infrastructure repairs due to wear from high speed travel. Sounds like amazing benefits right? Let me also convince you that there is no catch. Sure it took me a little bit longer to get places because I drove quite a bit slower, but even while traveling the same speed as everyone else on the road I could average at least 25% more than EPA ratings on either vehicle. I would also argue that driving slower is much better for my schedule. I would plan my driving times for a lot longer than needed, so that I didn't rush to get anywhere. I left 30 minutes for a commute that I knew was possible in 12, and I never had to rush again. I think that rushing is what causes most crashes and fatalities, when people are more concerned with "getting there" rather than being safe or not wasting all of our gas.
I have a long document I have written with most of the techniques that I used in everyday driving to drive so efficiently, but it really doesn't do justice in text form. I had offered "lessons" in Oneonta (where I was last year) but people weren't ready yet to make real changes in driving styles. If anyone wants to know how to get crazy efficiency while enjoying driving time instead of dreading it and rushing everywhere, I would be more than happy to share my knowledge. None of it is particularly difficult, but most of it does take patience to get out of old mindset of how to drive. With all this knowledge about peak oil and knowing what goes into getting a gallon of gas, it's just plain irresponsible to drive with hard accelerations, jackrabbit starts, and going over 55mph on the highway. We all know what uses more gas, yet most people haven't made changes yet. The average American spends 4 hours a day watching television; I think the average American also says they don't have enough time to drive slower. I don't own a car anymore, so I really want to teach others who aren't ready to make that big jump to being carless at least how to drive better and use less gas. If you are interested, let me know. Andy Goodell [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
