[AT] OT: Gas story

[CEE VILL]

If a few drivers would follow this advice, they might stop going crazy 
behind me when I am driving 5 over the posted limit...
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>From: "Francis Robinson" <robinson at svs.net>
>Reply-To: Antique tractor email discussion group 
><at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>Subject: Re: [AT] OT: Gas story
>Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2007 08:52:56 -0400
>
>     In the process of making dozens of trips all over the eastern third of
>the US over the last year or so (and watching locally) my observation has
>been the same as it has always been... People do a lot of "talking" about
>fuel mileage and worrying about getting shorted at the pump but when they
>get behind the wheel 90% of them don't really give a rats behind about fuel
>mileage. If they did they wouldn't drive the way they do... Just watch them
>putting the pedal to the metal at stoplight after stoplight. They are still
>driving 20 or 30 MPH over the speed limits. As they drive past my house
>(paved country road) I can hear their engine accelerate hard then coast,
>then accelerate hard then coast again, over and over on down the road every
>few seconds. Going south from my drive there is a slight down hill then a
>little creek then a bit steeper (but still not much) little up hill. It is 
>a
>place that any good driver would lift his foot slightly going down hill 
>then
>accelerate slightly going up the other hill. Car after car, everyday the
>drivers put their foot on the brake and brake hard "all" of the way down 
>the
>hill until they get to the bridge at the bottom then they accelerate hard 
>up
>the next hill. The road makes a 90 degree left turn about 700' from the
>little up hill but most drivers accelerate hard until they get to within
>about 100' of the turn then jam on the brakes so hard that their tires
>squeal. Coming out of the turn the pedal goes to the metal again. That is 
>on
>one tiny stretch of road less than 1/2 mile long on a country road. The
>lucky ones are getting about 4 MPG doing that. Multiply that times the 
>miles
>of road in the US times the number of drivers...
>     I have also been struck by the number of drivers running on one or 
>more
>half flat tires out on the interstates. Its bad enough in town where I can
>tell by wear patterns that the half flat tire condition is a more or less
>permanent condition. It is a dangerous condition at high speeds but few 
>seem
>to worry about it.
>     I used to say that the biggest gauge on the dash should be a big 
>vacuum
>gauge marked in red yellow and green and when it gets in the red, lights
>should flash and "hard driving" alarms go off...   ;-)
>     People don't have to go to extremes with fuel mileage... If starting
>tomorrow all drivers across the country would just switch to driving
>"reasonable" the amount of fuel required would drop like a rock. Maybe as
>much as 15 to 20%. That is not small potatoes. Its never going to happen of
>course... but what a difference it could make.
>     The public wants good mileage but they want the car makers to do it 
>for
>them...
>
>
>--
>"farmer"
>
>Francis Robinson
>Central Indiana, USA
>robinson at svs.net
>
>
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