Frugal Friday: Changing Mindset About Driving Slower
I am Eric, Kate's husband, I am filling in for Kate while she and the kids visit family in Chicago.
Two weeks ago on my way to one of our clients a thought popped in my head. Driving 60 mph is a mile a minute, at 90 mph it's a mile every 45 seconds. That means every 4 miles you save 1 minute, so on a 40 mile drive you would only save 4 minutes! That led me to the next thought of how much gas do you save by driving slower. Using a little tool I like to call the "internet", I found this article Every 10 mph faster reduces fuel economy by about 4 mpg, some highlights from this article are - "Every 10 mph faster reduces fuel economy by about 4 mpg, a figure that remains fairly constant regardless of vehicle size, according to Roger Clark, a fuel economy engineer for General Motors" and "Engineers at Consumer Reports magazine tested this theory by driving a Toyota Camry sedan and a Mercury Mountaineer SUV at various set cruising speeds on a stretch of flat highway. Driving the Camry at 75 mph instead of 65 dropped fuel economy from 35 mpg to 30. For the Mountaineer, fuel economy dropped from 21 to 18."
I have always been good about changing the oil and keeping the tires properly inflated, now I am working hard on changing my driving habits, for the past two weeks I have been driving no faster than the posted speed limit, taking off from stops slower, and just simply taking it easy behind the wheel.
My Frugal Friday tip is having the brain tell the right foot to ease up on the gas pedal.
For more Frugal Friday tips, make sure you stop in at Crystal's blog.
5 comments:
good for you!
i am constantly catching myself speeding and i have no idea why...why is it everyone is always in such a rush these days?
Great guest post Eric, since my speeding ticket :( a few years ago, I have tried to drive the speed limit. I have always found it interesting how people consider speeding to be a "respectable sin." Truthfully, we are breaking the law when we speed and putting our lives and the lives of others in danger. Around here is it common to see people driving 85-100 miles an hour, weaving in and out of other vehicles. Scary! I say this as someone who has been guilty of speeding many times over. Slowing down can save you money and possibly your life!
Toni
haha, now I have some ammo to show my husband another reason not to speed. He always teases me because I always go the speed limit. Now I can just tell him that I do it to save money on gas. :-)
Thanks for doing the math for us on this!
You read my mind! Today (before I read your blog) I purposely slowed down to 60 in the 65 zone and what a difference! My commute across town was much more relaxing. I've decided to slow it down not just for the increase gas mileage but for my state of mind - I don't want to be competing with the traffic around me, when I slow down I find I'm more likely to be courtous to others too.
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