Hypermiling Causes Road Rage? Hypermiling a Fad?

There are two things that will need to go hand in hand...
Gas prices will stay high...
Cars can not be immediatly replaced.
Untill the cars are replaced that are totally dependant on fossil fuels the people will tend to find more ways to save on fuel. The road rage I've seen has not been caused by people going slow, but folks who cut people off, or otherwise drive in an arogant fassion.

I read an article on another news site (9news.com) about hypermiling. One commentor had the nerve to suggest that hypermilers caused to tailgate them, etc etc.

Now shutting off your engine while rolling down the highway is certainly not a good idea, I can't see how some people honsetly think that because I drive slow (or the speed limit, as it is 55 in most of Denver) that I am making them tailgate me. Fun how that works, huh?

Hypermilling by itself might be perceived as yet another statement from one individual to those around him/her that they don't give a rat's behind about what impact their behavior has on others...

when combined with other anti-social habits... such as text-messaging or reading or applying makeup or other behaviors...

..what comes across is basically rude and inconsiderate behavior... a "statement" if you will from one person to the folks around them...

bad karma

Driving slowly in order to save gas is a waste of time: just do the math!

A typical vehicle that gets 30 mpg at 60 miles per hour will get about 25 mpg at 75 miles per hour, according to numerous sources I have seen and my own testing on vehicles I have owned. So, assuming a 150 mile trip, you find that driving 60 mph results in a 2.5 hour trip and 5 gallons used, while driving 75 mph results in a 2 hour trip and 6 gallons used. In other words, driving slowly has saved you two gallons of gas per hour. I think virtually all of us value our time much more than $8.20 an hour. Even if my numbers are off a bit, it isn't even close, so it wouldn't matter. Unless you are a teenager driving to your minimum-wage job, slowly down to save money is just plain dumb. There are better ways to help the environment.

Not only are you wasting your own time, but that of your passengers and numerous drivers who encounter you on the road. While you would be safer if driving in isolation, on real roads, you won't be much safer. Many dangerous situations on roadways are not caused by speed but relative speed. Hypermilers and other slow drivers cause all sorts of interruptions to normal traffic flow, causing excessive tail-gating, passing on the right, quick lane changes and a number of other situations that could easily lead to accidents.

Please, give up your time wasting, drive within the normal speed range, stay to the right, and speed up when passing.

[quote] My favourite is the guy who complained about hypermilers taking off so slowly at traffic lights that they, and maybe only one or two other cars, may make the light. “How inconsiderate”, he hurrumphed! [/quote]

Sounds to me like the hurrumphing Washingtonian ought to write to the traffic engineers of their municipality (District?) to resolve this problem; not the driver in front of them.

We need to make it illegal to drive in the left lane, with the exception of passing, and illegal to pass on the right and ENFORCE those rules. I'm pretty sure it's the law in many states but it is almost never practiced or enforced. It is enforced in much of Europe and it makes things so much smoother - and safer. Tailgating laws should be enforced as well.

Another point to Europe for doing things better.

Ogemaniac, for some time spent driving is a waste of time. For me it's time that I can catch up on Podcast/Music/Audio Book listening. Plus I like to take my time, keeps me sane.

I have made it a point to try and do 55 when the road is mostly clear. If not, then I stay at 60mph and stay in the right lane. It only makes sense to do the speed limit (which is 60 around here).

As for other hypermiling tricks, I haven't tried the hood insulation one yet. Is this a good investment? Please let me know. Thanks!

I agree with Ogemaniac.
If you are going 55 and the speed limit is 55, then that's fine with me. Just make sure you get over to the right and let other people get by - people who arent as worried about the price of gas because they were smart and bought fuel efficient cars to begin with!

And if you are so frugal to be trying all the hypermiling tricks in the book, then perhaps your time would have been better spent putting together a car pool or researching one of many alternative options to driving...an electric scooter maybe, since you dont mind driving below the speed limit.

I do not believe it's a fad. I never even thought of driving any different until I heard of this and now it makes my driving experience exciting as I skillfully drive instead "drooling and cruising".

I went from never calculating my gas mileage (i was getting around 13mpg in a civic) to around 42mpg. No fancy equipment, no unsafe driving - just doing the speed limit and controlling my impulses.

How does a $150 speeding ticket figure into your math? That would be $300 an hour.

To Ogemaniac: AMEN!!!! I couldn't have said it better, especially your concluding sentence!!!!

I agree mostly with Ogemaniac: If you're going to drive more slowly than the fastest traffic, drive on the right. SPEED UP to pass.
I like to consider the left lane of traffic the sacred lane. Germans have long understood this, the left lane is used for passing only -- you can actually get a ticket for driving slow in the fast lane.
Where are the police in the states, and why aren't they giving out tickets for tailgating and driving slower than traffic in the fast lane?

I think some people are always going to drive like jerks, hypermilers or no hypermilers.

I have noticed that when I accelerate slow [not unreasonably slow, mind you!] people race around me negating any energy I am saving . Also, if I decelerate slow towards a light, people often rush around me to stop. I can see the point that Oge is making completely [despite that he's focused on the money aspect and not the energetic aspect]. But I also agree that if it were a group effort, so much energy would be conserved instead of wasted. Just don't tell me that when I'm running late for work! ;)

Wow. I hypermiled from Harrisburg, PA to Chicago, IL (actually the suburbs where a car is necessary) and did NOT experience any road rage during the 12 hour trip.
For the record, here's specifically what I did:
1. 55mph the entire trip
2. Coasting into rest stops (signaling far in advance and slowing down BEFORE getting off the highway)
3. Not tailgating.
I got over 45mpg for most of the trip in an '02 Saturn. While I was passed ALOT, I was able to maintain a constant, safe speed, not stress myself out by getting stuck in traffic, and saved myself money for the entire trip.
People need to remember that patience is a virtue. If you're in a hurry, give yourself more time (plan ahead). "People got themselves in a damn hurry" - Brooks (Shawshank Redemption)

I would rather be considered a sensible driver over that of a hypermiler or your typical "get up and go" attitude. Last week, my fiance and I were biking and had the right of way, however, we were being honked at cause we didn't cross the road at 0 to 60 in 2 seconds. The honker obviously didn't know basic road etiquette and he sped by, wasting much of his own gas and money. The thing is, if we want to conserve money and time, we must first think with our minds and not our feet.

What is this ridiculous obsession with TIME = MONEY?
It does not. Time is time.
Why not enjoy the ride, for a change?

Where I live, the sights are STUNNING. But nobody enjoys it, because they're too busy driving their SUVs and F-350s 85 miles per hour. Slow down! And I don't just mean that in the gas-saving, carbon-reducing miles per hour sense. Slow down mentally. You're just adding stress and anxiety by racing to see how quickly you can get done driving so you can do something else. Relax. Talk to your passengers. Sing along with the radio. Look at the mountains. You'll get there soon enough.

Life is not a race; trust me, you don't want to finish first.

I dont mind people doing 55mph in a 55 zone but when they shut their cars off and coast doing 20 in a 40 on a one lane road causing everybody else to do 18 is horrible and the person should not be on the road.

A lot of hypermiling is selfish and not helping the environment in the long ruyn because if you do the illegal tricks you will be causing everybody elses gas milage to go down around you.

Going 55 in a 55mph zone is not hypermiling its called being a safe legal driver.

Things like shutting off your car and coasting doing 20 in a 40 is called being a jerk and unsafe. Those people deserve to have their licenses taken away.

Robert, I would like to make a special point of your #3: NOT TAILGATING.

Although - people who tailgate, for hypermiling purposes...or because the rest of the traffic isn't going fast enough...or because they like to be first...or because they can't gauge their own speed without someone INCHES from their front bumper....they just like to tailgate.

The one that people seem to forget is the people who TURN OFF THEIR ENGINES while their car is in motion. Not just on the highway. I live in a city where there are several parking meters and one-way street. I've been behind people who will turn off their cars in traffic and coast into a spot, or coast to turn into their parking garage. DANGEROUS. And if I were prone to road rage (I'm prone to huffing and rolling my eyes and passing) I would see how this would provoke.

Follow the traffic laws and common sense. If you're so concerned about your mileage that you need to turn off your car - buy one that gets better mileage. And it doesn't have to be new. Yes, my Fit gets 30 in the city. But my husband's '97 Saturn gets 28.

One important fact is that it's not always easy to tell if someone is hypermiling or not.

So now that the practice is all over the news, every time someone sees some kind of driving they don't like, they'll blame hypermiling.

But maybe that slow person is just slow. Maybe that tailgater isn't even thinking about fuel economy. Maybe these people who you would classify as "normal drivers" are hypermiling and getting awesome MPG.

Remember this.

"Now driving slowly may work very well in say, Boise, Idaho."
Actually, even here in Boise I get yelled at. Just recently I was slowing down for a red light a bit early (why speed to a red light). Maybe it was rude of me to not consider that people behind me would want to make a right turn at fifty miles per hour on a thirty mile per hour street. I was blocking the turn lane for a few seconds and the guy behind honked and yelled profanities at me. In this case it was not the slowing down for a red light that made me dangerous, it was not paying attention (That goes for the guy behind me, too, though. I should have looked in the mirror, but he should have looked at my brake lights.). I'd say that is true in most cases. Not paying attention is the real danger. Never assume anything about other drivers.
And now a rant about context: Highways are built for speed. City streets are not (unless you're in the boondock suburbs, but even there they shouldn't be meant for speed, since people live nearby). There is simply too much going on in cities for people to be speeding. Beyond 20 MPH, the human eye has a hard time observing more than a few things at a time. If you are speeding then you miss things, and in a city there are a lot of things happening at once! You will eventually get into an accident by speeding in a city! Furthermore, speeding on city streets simply does not work!!!!!!! There are too many stop lights. For example, every day coming home from work I see drivers speeding around slower drivers and bicyclists. The slower drivers and sometimes even the bicyclists end up catching up to the speeders at the red lights. No math can prove me wrong on this, because I have seen it happen over and over again. Go ahead and whine about slow drivers on the highway. But in cities you are better off going the speed limit and shrugging off the road rage.

my vette gets 35mpg@65mph@1400rpm. if idrive more aggressive mpg goes down quick. I just turn my rearview mirror down to not get roadrage from tail gaters. if someone has a problem with me going the speed limit in the right lane then they can get over. if accelerating slow 5 extra seconds gets people mad too bad hot head

Driving at 55-60mph gets me to my destination about 2-3 minutes slower than driving at 70mph on my short-haul motorway trip. It's a few miles, and i'm not the only one that does that trip.

The fuel savings are remarkable, and i'm fast approaching 450 miles per tankful of fuel ( over my old 300 miles/tank usage ).

Driving 40 in fifth gear, instead of fourth.
Doing the speed limit.
Going a bit slower on motorways.

Yeah, it does add up. And time isn't money to a lot of people. You can spare those extra few minutes, they won't kill you.

I'm surprised by so many negative comments. Certainly 20 in a 40 is rude - I doubt many would argue with that. But driving sensibly and at times below the speed limit is certainly a "green" thing to do.

As far as the poster comparing $$ - he makes a good argument for $20 a gallon gas - would he then slow down?

I personally drive a Civic hybrid - I can't do much better with getting a more efficient car. And I hypermile - not out of being cheap or saving $$ - that is a side benefit. But it is about not being wasteful of energy. I've done the math and about $8 an hour is right but that isn't the point.

Hypermiling (to me) means speed limit (or a bit below if multiple lanes or no one around), coasting to red lights and stop signs, minimizing using the brakes (obviously when safe), tires just below max sidewall, windows up at speed, minimize a/c. Nothing that really pisses off other drivers. But as far as pissing off drivers - every large SUV with one person in it pisses me off just the same.

Check the math! Ogemaniac is pulling figures out of the ether. His numbers have a car using 20% more gas to go 25% faster. It does not work that way.

Much of the work a car does at highway speeds is against wind resistance, and this force increases 56% when you go 25% faster (changes w/ the square of speed).

Facts are stubborn things . . . and so is physics.

Larry G. Is absolutly right. Rather then go 50 mph on a 50 mph road, I should be going 65, tail gaiting the SUV's in front of me and rushing to the red light like every one else out there. Now that would be good karma because that is what the person behind me would like.
Or I could drive in a way that saves a bit of gas which will help the environment, bring down the overall use of oil, thereby helping to stabelize the price.

Given an option I would prefer that there are more hypermilers on the road than aggressive drivers. In general, hhypermilers are leagues more aware of their driving which is incredibly safer. Just because people around them think that going slower than traffic is dangerous doesn't mean that speeding is justified. Hypermilers save gas, make roads safer, and are a model of how everyone should drive. Wasn't there an article hear before saying some European country was teaching all new drivers good techniques that saved them 20-30% of their gas?

The average American spends 1.5 hours in a car. The average American also watched 4 hours of TV a day. Stop whining about the slow drivers just because you are lazy!

As for Oge's calculations, try this one: I went from driving 75mph on the highways a 23mpg to 55mph at 35mpg. I use a shorter route to cut off many miles from most trips. This meant that I was only spending 47% of what I used to for my longer trips. There is no way that you can convince me that speeding and working more is going to make the same benefit. I used less gas, had more enjoyable rides, and was never braking the law by doing so.

Sop justifying your laziness!

I am now car free, so you have one less hypermiler to get in your way.

Even the thought of having to slow down behind the wheel makes people nuts. When did sitting on one's butt in a climate-controlled environment with telephones and hi-fi become a hardship? It's long been evident to me that driving is a far more stressful and, yes, frightening experience than most of us are willing to admit. Life was probably better before the automobile came to dominate our lives. It will certainly be better -- and saner -- when its day is past.

When someone tailgates me, I put my windshield washers on and they get my spray.
I think most people who read this site are educated and aware so we preach to the choir.

Almost everyone needs a class in using their turn signals to change lanes... usually it's just laziness.

Use flashers below XX mph.

BROOKS WAS HERE

vsk

Hypermiling inconsiderate? a waste of time?

If we are ever going to solve the problems with our environment, we can't wait for technology to catch up with our consumption habits. Changing our culture will have a far greater, and more distributed, impact than changing the fuel we put in our cars or the efficiency of our engines.

slow down...

Personally I think the extreme hypermilers are asses. It's one thing to drive smartly by accelerating steadily, coasting and braking long. That saves gas AND stress on your car. When people start pulling all the hypermiling tricks all the time, it just takes things to an extreme.

Driving is as much about safety as it is about consideration. People tend to forget about that because driving is very anonymous. Others have no consideration at all.

That being said, per Ogemaniac's comment, incremental savings multiplied by 10s of millions of people turn into giant savings. If everyone drove smartly in fuel efficient vehicles, demand would go down slightly and even more money would be saved. Instead we have a bunch of people driving 80 with their windows open in 12-16mpg SUVs with no passengers. Hypermiling is the other extreme. The happy medium is driving smartly.

Road rage is simply someone's inability to control their emotions. Sometimes the other driver is really an idiot though.

As for Ogemaniac's comments on time vs money,
On the practical side, since I started obeying the speed limits, stoped racing to the red light, stop accelarating like I was a testostorone socked teen ager, and stopped running the car at red lights, I have not noticed that I arive at work any later, and I went from getting 32 around town to getting over 50 mpg's

On a more philisophical note, its not about saving money, its about saving a NON renewable resource. Like land, they are not making any more oil. There are better things we could do with the limited oil we have then burning it up so we can go fast.

Now what about those idiots who brake while going down hills? They are basically squandering the potential kinetic energy of hills. Everyone should put the car in neutral and just let gravity and momentum propel the car as far as it can go.

I have been trying to be as efficient as I can with my '04 Kia Rio. The main thing I've done to increase my mileage (from about 30-32 to 36-37) is to drive 65 instead of 75 and take it out of gear on the downhills.

I used to turn off my car on the downhills until I almost crashed into someone because the brakes lost pressure after pumping them a couple times. With my kids in the car, that is just not a risk I am willing to take.

300TTto545 and Stradric have clearly got the right idea. Yes, people who go for the extreme hypermiling "tricks" or create unsafe situations are being jerks and can induce road rage the same way any unsafe or bad driving habits would.
I would never consider myself a dedicated hypermiler, but I see no reason to speed up toward a red light. Instead, when I see I can't make the light, I take my foot off the gas. Usually I end up below half my original speed before I actually step on the brakes. It does sometimes cause people behind me to get mad, switch lanes, and try to pass me. Usually what happens is that they end up stopped (often farther back in a line of cars than me) at the light waiting, and a lot of the time the light turns green as I approach, so that while they have to accelerate from a standing start, I am already going 10-20 mph and end up speeding ahead of them despite accelerating more gently.
The more reasonable hypermiling techniques are not unsafe, and not all of them lead to a longer trip time.

Hypermiling just seems pointless to me. If you really cared that much about the environment you'd ride a bicycle and/or take public transit and alter your lifestyle to make those choices viable options.

BTW: big clue your hypermiling is pissing people off is when the guy on the bicycle is passing you because you're going so slow. Just a hint...

+1 to Larry G!
I am the type of person who likes to drive fast, within reason. There is a difference between driving fast and being unsafe. It all depends on the driver. There are many times when it is more unsafe to drive slow or drive the speed limit than it is to drive at the same speed as the rest of traffic. For example where I live, the majority of people do not agree with the posted speed limits, police included. So if the majority of people go let's say an average of 75 MPH on a certain highway with a posted limit of 55, and the police do not care/disagree enough to pull people over, then the constant flow of traffic is going 75 MPH. If you get someone who comes along doing 55 MPH, which is against the overall flow of traffic, it creates a more dangerous situation as people will want to go 75. They will pass them if possible, but will get behind them if they cannot. Many people get frustrated by slow drivers which causes them to get anxious and eventually angry and enraged.

Basically I'm saying it is safer to go the same speed as the general flow of traffic than it is to stick out. Whether sticking out means you are going 20 over the speed limit, or if you are going exactly the speed limit, it all depends on the situation.

This is a great article. Normal hypermiling techniques are not only safe, but safer than many gas-guzzling "techniques."

I think the broad effort to discredit hypermiling is simply an effort to get people to keep buying lots of gas.

Hypermiling seems to be the term of the year. I used to aggressively drive a jeep wrangler. I got about 13 MPG and a number of accidents. Now I gently drive a VW diesel with no accidents and better than 50 MPG.
The key word is gentle. Some folk used to get upset and pass me in anger. So, I wrote 59.9 MPG (my best mileage) on the back of the car. Now folk pass me, smile and wave. A few even ask me, "does it really get that mileage? How can I do that?" My response is, "imagine putting a champagne glass on the dash and driving so that it doesn't fall over." With gas prices well over $4/gallon, I find that some folk are following me -- perhaps they want to learn by example?
The difference between 50 MPG and 59.9 MPG is what I call hypermiling. To be honest, it is really annoying ... to me! The minuscule gain in fuel economy is not worth the effort. A better technology would be more beneficial. I am now waiting for the advent of affordable diesel hybrids. Sadly, while waiting, I watch the Prius' zoom past me, oft snarling about paying all that money and not getting as good an efficiency....

Hypermiling seems to be the term of the year. I used to aggressively drive a jeep wrangler. I got about 13 MPG and a number of accidents. Now I gently drive a VW diesel with no accidents and better than 50 MPG.
The key word is gentle. Some folk used to get upset and pass me in anger. So, I wrote 59.9 MPG (my best mileage) on the back of the car. Now folk pass me, smile and wave. A few even ask me, "does it really get that mileage? How can I do that?" My response is, "imagine putting a champagne glass on the dash and driving so that it doesn't fall over." With gas prices well over $4/gallon, I find that some folk are following me -- perhaps they want to learn by example?
The difference between 50 MPG and 59.9 MPG is what I call hypermiling. To be honest, it is really annoying ... to me! The minuscule gain in fuel economy is not worth the effort. A better technology would be more beneficial. I am now waiting for the advent of affordable diesel hybrids. Sadly, while waiting, I watch the Prius' zoom past me, oft snarling about paying all that money and not getting as good an efficiency....

It seems to be falling along two lines...
1. I want to save fuel...
2. I want to go above the speed limit...

@Dyer13 says...
"There are many times when it is more unsafe to drive slow or drive the speed limit than it is to drive at the same speed as the rest of traffic."

Now we are starting to get silly. Am I supposed to believe it is better to race like heck to the next red light, tail gating everyone in front of me, in other words acting like the majority of the other drivers, is safer.
If the majority were driving drunk, would it be safer to do so? Or ignoring stop signs, or what ever law you want to break?
Tell the cops pulling you over that every one is doing it.

I think I am the only guy on tree hugger that also like mixed martial arts. I see nothing wrong with the occasional scap, other than the fear of being sued or going to jail.

"Life is not a race; trust me, you don't want to finish first." LOVED this! Thanks for the laugh!

I have been practicing some hypermiling techniques lately. I would have to agree that you need to adapt them to the circumstances of the road you are on. HOWEVER, it should NEVER be wrong to drive the speed limit, even on freeways where everyone is barreling along 10-15 mph above that. Just be sensible and courteous and stay to the right (as others have said). And DO NOT drive below the speed limit on high speed/crowded highways (unless of course flow of traffic is slower..lol!)

I have seen some people zip around me from behind and back into the same lane again in front of me because getting one car ahead makes such a difference when the light ahead is still red. In my opinion, that driver is much more dangerous than me on the road because I am gliding slowly to a stop (or not a stop if the light ends up turning green before I get there...) That person zipping about, speeding up and squeezing into that coveted space only to slam on the brakes....hmmmm, which sounds safer to you???

""My response is, "imagine putting a champagne glass on the dash and driving so that it doesn't fall over." ""

EXACTLY!!!

That's good driving AND hypermiling, in a nutshell. The '20 in a 40 zone' isn't hypermiling, it's 'dangerous driving'. Why rush up to the stoplight? Frankly, if your brakes get hot while driving, you're wasting gas.

Why don't cars in North America come with mileage meters on the dash, the way cars (at least rentals) in Europe do?

And turning off your engine while waiting at a red light and restarting it to go is a recognised technique in Europe - in some countries the traffic lights will give you a three second flash of the amber lights under the red lights just before the red changes to green, so you know to restart your engine. I've done this in Prague.

Here in Ontario, they have just passed the 'keep to the right except to pass' and 'no passing on the right' laws - now to get them enforced!

I fine with people saving gas by driving 55 mph. But, to all you hypermillers please stay out of the fastlane. Although, there is a speed limit, there is also a law that dictates slower traffic must drive in the right hand lane.

I would agree; hypermilling is not a fad. the people driving boring @ss, old lady Honda's need some way to pass the time. I recently bought a preowned car. And happily, I can say its a v8 sports sedan. Without fail, I smile every time when I pull hard off the line leaving the Honda drivers to tremble in my wake.

I value my time more than the money, I would save by driving the 55mph. Money is flaunting, the time you loose is not. While you're driving slowly and creeping off the line from a green lights. I am at home enjoying my family and personal time. If money or the environment was really a concern. I have a few suggestions: telecommute one day week or move closer to work or better yet, get a job closer to home. Whatever you do though... do not get in my way and do not try in any death roll turns in my residential area.

The lame excuse... "I am driving the speed limit doesn't fly." Holding up traffic in the vein of the law is feeble and speaks more to your personal insecurities.

Personally I telecommute 2 days a week and drive less than 12 miles a day. I have made personal choices that are environmental conscious.

The greater question is why hypermillers feel the need to pass the cost of their environmental choices to those they share the road with.

jack

You could have explained, or at least given a link to what hypermiling means before you start an article about its effects.

"You could have explained, or at least given a link to what hypermiling means before you start an article about its effects."

There are some links at the end, but it's kind of assumed if you are reading treehugger that you have an idea :)

google is your friend

To say that hypermiling is the problem is to ignore the fact that people are commuting too far and driving too fast. If people lived closer to their workplaces, planned their time better and weren't obsessed with "bigger and faster" in each generation of cars, nobody would be saying a word about hypermilers.

And if one or more hypermilers is unintentionally slowing down the average speed of traffic, as a cyclist endangered by speeding cars, I tip my hat to them. People who drive slower tend to obey the laws more and have greater respect cyclists and pedestrians.

About electric cars, truth is it takes more fuel to run the generator to charge the battery than if you had put the fuel into your combustion engine. If you had put the same amount of fuel into the combustion engine car it would have went further on same amount of fuel. Cal. reduces its polution by having electric cars but at the expense of some other part of the country. Don't take my word for check it out for yourself you will be suprised.