Back -to-school season is just around the corner! I'm quite sure you didn't want to know that, but i have an important reason to remind you:::
drive safely!
Going to Walmart/Target/supermarket with kids is a drain on hypermiling and road safety IF YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!
It's pretty well known that you shouldn't text and drive. DON:T TEXT and DRIVE!
But please tell your kids the same thing. The double whammy of back-to-school shopping and texting while driving can cause accidents
unfortunately, i've seen MANY accidents, and hope and pray to not see more in my hometown (of course i wasn't involved because I am a hypermiler = I am attentive to the road and my gas mileage at all times.)
P.S. you have a "cheat" in August!
it's much more important to drive safe than it is to achieve proper gas mileage!
Fortunately, you can do both, but i'm just saying, IF you are in a high traffic zone, especially walmart parking lots like i was in "insert big city" USA this past 4th of July, driving safely > Hypermiling.
In September, you can do both hypermiling and safe driving. BUT August is all about safe driving!
In my experience, hypermiling IS the safest driving.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple basic reasons
1) on the highway you drive MUCH slower than average. Never past the speed limit. Driving past the speed limit is a crime, and everyone knows it, but everyone does it anyway. What fewer people seem to know is that speeding is the NUMBER ONE CAUSE of motor vehicle accidents and deaths. More than alcohol, more than texting. And as it happens, driving slower is one of the most important factors in highway fuel economy as well.
2) You are focused on the road and traffic around you. In order to properly hypermile you have to be able to predict the actions of other drivers and stoplights blocks ahead of you. Which means you have to pay much closer attention to the road ahead - no getting home on subconscious "autopilot". Paying attention is one of the most important safety factors.
I have learned from hypermiling that there is actually no such thing as a "panic" or "emergency" stop, IF you drive slow, leave generous following distances, and pay attention. If people did those 3 things, no one would need anti-lock brakes, or even power brakes, nor even airbags or seat belts. All of those things are needed ONLY because everyone drives so poorly that we take recklessness as standard.
If we could all do just those 3 things, we would save millions of lives (car crashes are the number one cause of death among all people under 40), and save millions of barrels of gasoline, at the same time