Some hypermiling techniques illegal in my state!

[Jim Dunlop]

I love my new commute...all country highways between two small towns. Lots of gently rolling hills to test P&G techniques on. Often times I can make the trip to/from work without coming within half a mile of another vehicle (except near my house).

No offense to those who love complicated laws, but I think the #1 cause of accidents is inattentiveness. How are you going to legislate that? I often find that when I am "driving efficiently" I am paying more attention than when I am "driving normally".

I find it very hard to believe that coasting in neutral or driving a little slower than the speed limit is more dangerous than those tough guys who tailgate at 1 car length at 70 MPH in a Ford F-350. That's a lot more obvious than someone coasting in neutral. Where are the patrolmen pulling them over? They aren't, because they have bigger (read: more lucrative) fish to fry like gross speeding and drug trafficking.

So hypermile all you want, just be respectful of other drivers' wishes and do your best to find quiet roads. I'd be willing to wager that GasSavers are 10x more respectful of other drivers (on the average) than non-GasSavers.

MN Comment: The original post of this thread is a perfect illustration of the Law of Unintended Consequences. Socially-minded politicians (MN has plenty of them), sincerely meaning to better the state of affairs, pass laws which try to "eradicate" misfortune but can also stifle creativity and impose needless control over those who normally would have no need for such laws.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by theclencher

I've heard of Cali Highway Patrols ticketing motorists for going the speed limit because it obstructed the flow of traffic. But for all I know, that could be urban legend.

I think so considering there are no minimum speed limits in CA, and 55mph is still the limit on many freeways, especially as population density increases. I've been doing it for over two years iirc w/ no tickets. Otoh, one of the few times I though it was a bright idea to go 80-90mph I got busted in the space of a couple trips.

Officer Panelli said the CHP sees very few drivers cruising I-5 at 55. It's not illegal, however -- there's no minimum speed limit on that stretch of road, and the Vehicle Code says only: "No person shall drive upon a highway at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic."

"If you're doing 55 in the right lane,'' Panelli said, "you're probably OK. It wouldn't be like you're the only one out there going that slow, since trucks and cars towing trailers have a 55 speed limit.''

Most motorists wouldn't dare try it, however. "You want to go with the flow,'' said Jihadda Govan of Delano, who was taking I-5 back from a wedding in Humboldt County. "You feel like a hazard doing 55 when everyone else is going between 70 and 90.''

Comey said that even though the AAA encourages motorists to conserve fuel by lifting the right foot off the gas pedal, he would worry about going 55 on the wide-open highway.

"You wouldn't want to sacrifice safety for fuel economy,'' he said. "If you're driving 55, and the ambient traffic speed is much higher, you could be putting yourself in danger because the other drivers might not be paying attention and might crash into you.''

But Panelli said he wouldn't classify 55 as an unsafe speed.

"I've never (responded to) a collision that occurred where someone said, 'This guy was driving 55 so I crashed into him,' '' he said. "Usually, the cause is the opposite. Someone's driving too fast.''

[varg]

All this is very interesting stuff... but it's making me wonder; are any of the techniques I'm using Illegal in FL? I'm going to have to look up EOC, Turning off the engine at a stoplight, holding back traffic by accelerating slowly to -gasp- the speed limit, etc. I'd sure hate to get a ticket for trying to save money, gas and the environment.

Also, I'm with Jim, the #1 cause of accidents is inattentiveness, not things like coasting in neutral, and I find driving efficiently makes me much more attentive. But I must add that the #2 cause for accidents has to be A**hole drivers. People who cut others off, tailgate, swerve in and out of traffic, etc. I've seen just as many accidents caused by someone who just couldn't find the patience to not cut off another driver as I have seen caused by an idiot who didn't see something because of talking on the cell phone.

[GasSavers_Colin]

Originally Posted by theclencher

Move right where- the shoulder or the ditch? They ain't no 4-lanes up heeyah.

Either.

Where in the state are you? Even in the St. Cloud area, where I live, we have a ton of four lane highways.

Colin

[Jim Dunlop]

Hey Colin, I spent a lot of time at my last job visiting a plastic thermoforming shop in Clearwater. Nice area up there.

[GasSavers_Colin]

Sun Plastic?

[Jim Dunlop]

TO Plastics

[s2man]

I checked the Missouri laws before I shaved the passenger mirror. They say a vehicle doesn't need mirrors if the driver can see out the back or beside the vehicle. So I guess you could drive a truck with no mirrors, as long as you can hang out the window to look behind you.