Time v. Money- the Driving Dilemma
May. 18th, 2006 10:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redneckgaijinOn Mother's Day, on the way into town to reserve space at a restaurant for my grandmother's annual Mother's Day dinner, I used the MPG computer on her car to test the efficiency of the car at various speeds- see just how much gas it burned cruising at different speeds. (This computer reads about 3-4 MPG below actual mileage, so don't take this as accurate.)
70 MPH - 23 MPG
55 MPH - 28 MPG
50 MPH - 32 MPG
35 MPH - 21 MPG
Based on this, I'm inclined to slow down quite a bit when I don't have to meet a schedule. (I'm not doing below 55 on the open road, though- that falls into the category of "causing dangerous situations.") On the other hand, it's an article of faith with me that there is no such thing as safe driving, and that the only way to be safe is to hurry up and GET OFF THE ROAD.
I bring this up because CNN Headline News has been babbling all the time about how Texas is considering raising the speed limit on I-10 and I-20 out in rural west Texas to 80. (They're putting just a little bit of spin BAD EVIL TEXAS SAVE FUEL BUY HYBRIDS TRAINS FOREVER GOVERNMENT SHOULD CONTROL YOUR LIFE NAUGHTY NAUGHTY GAS-GUZZLING TEXAS on the story, including writing and presenting the story to give the inattentive the idea that the new speed limit would be statewide.)
I don't think lowering the speed limit will do much besides piss drivers off and overwork cops. I think raising the speed limit on rural, straight, flat, mostly empty interstate is a good idea. I also think that environmentalists should focus on playing up the cost of driving faster. If they're serious about wanting people to save gas, they shouldn't try to force them to drive less or slower, they should demonstrate that driving slower is worth it.
"I drive two hours a day to work and back- 70 all the way."
"Really? What's your gas mileage?"
"About twenty."
"You know, if you slowed down to 55, you'd lose about fifteen minutes each way, but gain five miles per gallon?"
"Five miles per gallon?"
"At today's gas prices, you'd be saving twenty dollars every week- and you'd go ninety miles farther on a tank of gas."
"Wow! That much, huh? What I couldn't do with a hundred bucks more a month..."
"So, is it worth an extra half-hour a day to slow down?"
Is it?
70 MPH - 23 MPG
55 MPH - 28 MPG
50 MPH - 32 MPG
35 MPH - 21 MPG
Based on this, I'm inclined to slow down quite a bit when I don't have to meet a schedule. (I'm not doing below 55 on the open road, though- that falls into the category of "causing dangerous situations.") On the other hand, it's an article of faith with me that there is no such thing as safe driving, and that the only way to be safe is to hurry up and GET OFF THE ROAD.
I bring this up because CNN Headline News has been babbling all the time about how Texas is considering raising the speed limit on I-10 and I-20 out in rural west Texas to 80. (They're putting just a little bit of spin BAD EVIL TEXAS SAVE FUEL BUY HYBRIDS TRAINS FOREVER GOVERNMENT SHOULD CONTROL YOUR LIFE NAUGHTY NAUGHTY GAS-GUZZLING TEXAS on the story, including writing and presenting the story to give the inattentive the idea that the new speed limit would be statewide.)
I don't think lowering the speed limit will do much besides piss drivers off and overwork cops. I think raising the speed limit on rural, straight, flat, mostly empty interstate is a good idea. I also think that environmentalists should focus on playing up the cost of driving faster. If they're serious about wanting people to save gas, they shouldn't try to force them to drive less or slower, they should demonstrate that driving slower is worth it.
"I drive two hours a day to work and back- 70 all the way."
"Really? What's your gas mileage?"
"About twenty."
"You know, if you slowed down to 55, you'd lose about fifteen minutes each way, but gain five miles per gallon?"
"Five miles per gallon?"
"At today's gas prices, you'd be saving twenty dollars every week- and you'd go ninety miles farther on a tank of gas."
"Wow! That much, huh? What I couldn't do with a hundred bucks more a month..."
"So, is it worth an extra half-hour a day to slow down?"
Is it?
