DRIVING DOWN THE COST OF DRIVING
You will find tips for reducing your fuel consumption, therefore reducing your emissions, and of course reducing your out-of-pocket costs!
In California, most of the major roadways are either 4 lanes total or 6 lanes total. This is meant to keep traffic flowing and accommodate the number of vehicles experienced during peak travel times (such as morning and evening commutes). Each city hires a Traffic Engineer (that means someone who has an engineering degree and uses some pretty complicated math and complicated models) to determine, based on real traffic counts, what size the roadways should be, what the speed limits should be, AND what the timing of the stoplights should be. They WANT traffic to flow freely to keep from having bumper-to-bumper traffic, and also to reduce emissions from vehicles. Keep this in mind when looking through these pointers:
1. Drive the posted speed limit. The enemy for reducing gas consumption is deceleration and the resulting acceleration to get back up to speed. Any time you apply the brakes, you are losing momentum. You will have to regain this momentum by applying the gas. If you maintain the speed limit, chances are that you won't "hit every light" and get bogged down with stopping at the light. That Traffic Engineer I mentioned WANTS the traffic to flow through as much as possible with minimal stops at lights! They have timed the lights so that the majority of vehicles traveling on the roadway will NOT hit every light, but ONLY if you are traveling the speed limit.
2. Avoid stopping. When you are driving down the roadway, you are bound to encounter some red lights. But if you can see that red light from a distance, you are better off taking your foot off the gas and coasting to that light. Not only will you not use as much gas to approach the light, but you might even get lucky and the light may change by the time you get there. If you haven't completely stopped by the time it changes, you have preserved some momentum and now it takes less gas to accelerate up to speed.
3. Speaking of Accelerating...I never understand why people in large SUV's accelerate so quickly from a stoplight. I guess those people have money that they don't mind wasting, but I certainly don't. I may drive like a granny, but when I actually AM a granny, I will probably have more money saved than those people will! If you are in such a hurry that you have to accelerate that quickly, try leaving just a couple minutes earlier. Acceleration will KILL your gas budget VERY quickly if you are not smart about it. Take it reasonably slowly.
4. A Long-term solution. I also don't get the Hummer fascination. No offense, but unless you are transporting combat troops across the mountains, do you really need that Hummer? In addition, unless you have 4 kids and the need to transport all their friends as well, do you need TWO large vehicles? Won't one large vehicle suffice?
The average size of a family is 3.5 people according to the latest census. This means that the average family *can* fit in a small sedan. Smaller car = less weight = less gas used and better gas mileage. If you have the need for two vehicles, try considering having one larger vehicle and one small vehicle. My family has one "mini" minivan (a Kia Rondo, a compact SUV-type vehicle) which gives us a little more backseat space and ample trunk space, and one small sedan. This is more than enough for our family of four and I have recently considered downgrading the mini-minivan to a family sedan when we are ready for a new car.
