DOT promoting EcoDriving!

[itjstagame]

I'm not sure if this is general discussion or something else but I didn't see any information about it posted in the forum already and was SHOCKED when I just found it scrolling through the NYS DMV's site.

Anyway, here it is.

NYS DOT has a site dedicated to trying to show people the advantages of driving less aggressive and pushing a save money for you and the environment for everyone approach.

Here's a poster they seemingly put together with Delaware, NC and Maryland: link

And they even link to a larger US wide iniative with an interesting little CO2 savings calculator, EcoDriver Quiz and EcoDriver Game/Road Sim: ecodrivingusa.com

Maybe DOTs have been doing this for a while and no one will be as shocked as I was, but I wanted to publicly (or at least forumly) praise their efforts and see what the community thought and if anyone had other DMV or statewide initiatives to share.

I really hope it gets at least some average driver's attention, the points about tire pressure and gas cap and important and I always see under inflated tires on the road, I'd say it's more like 30-40% instead of the 25% they report. Along those lines I think it'd be important if they told them to check tire pressure at season change or at least like June and Dec since with colder temps you probably need more air.

[bowtieguy]

the only thing that will truly limit aggressive driving is to hit them in the wallet via citations. it's too easy to get a licence to begin with, but as a professional truck driver, i see many opportunities to "coach" for more responsible driving.

there's a city here locally that is adding emergency fees to citations in auto collisions. for some, a simple citation is a slap on the wrist, so heavier citations and fees would help.

[madnessspirit]

Originally Posted by bowtieguy

the only thing that will truly limit aggressive driving is to hit them in the wallet via citations. it's too easy to get a licence to begin with, but as a professional truck driver, i see many opportunities to "coach" for more responsible driving.

there's a city here locally that is adding emergency fees to citations in auto collisions. for some, a simple citation is a slap on the wrist, so heavier citations and fees would help.

I agree 100%

I've had a CDL ever since I was a diesel mechanic, and honestly, I think even that was too easy to get. Licenses in this country should be more difficult to obtain and easier to lose.

Coach for more responsible driving? None of my friends will drive me anywhere anymore.

[VX_Arky]

I doubt people follow a campaign to save fuel but I have a good feeling they'd follow the speed limit if it were enforced more strictly like in the '80s with the "55 saves lives" campaign. Cops didn't let it slide back then, and it was just as much for cutting down fuel consumption as saving lives. The '70s gas rationing was enough to spark a lot of changes in the '80s. I'm wondering how much more oil we consume as a country with speed limits anywhere from 60 to 75 miles per hour compared to what we'd use if it was a federally mandated 55 mph limit. Any ideas?

[theholycow]

I'd just like to see traffic laws (ALL of them) enforced strictly and speed limits raised (and forget 55, on the freeway that's ridiculous here in the crowded northeast, let alone in the long lonely highways in other regions). If the laws aren't right, strict enforcement will get them removed quickly...and if they are right then they need to be enforced. I hate the presumption that everyone has to break the law all the time and the widespread acceptance thereof. I hate the tailgating and bullying. I hate the way all the sheep put themselves in a position to be hassled by the law even further than their traffic violation; the police have an excuse to pull over and search almost every car that goes by.

Yet, for some reason, people who are not afraid of speeding tickets (that cost hundreds of dollars in fines and thousands of dollars in insurance rate increases), aggressive driving tickets, and tailgating tickets...these people are so scared of a cheap, harmless illegal pass ticket that they will never try. Well, that is, unless there's a legal passing zone nearby; then they will pass anywhere but the passing zone.

[itjstagame]

I've never seen anyone wait for passing zones. I grew up in NYS and typically you only pass on the double yellow if its clear and there's a tractor or something, but I'm newly in CT and it's insane here. If I'm only going 5 OVER the limit and sightseeing I will surely end up with a line of 10 cars and they will eventually pass on the inside of a tight corner that I would call blind but I guess whatever, getting there as aggressively as possibly is obviously more important.

The other thing, not sure if anyone from CT wants to chime in, but I've only been here 3 weeks and I've seen 10 people run red lights. And I don't mean sped up to sail through, I mean they fully stopped at the red light and then proceeded through the intersection, half the time they're turning left across a busy road that has the greens in their direction. I've never seen anything like it, people sailing through I've seen tons but never have I seen the stopping, looking and running thing. Its to the point I wonder if its some law in CT that you can proceed cautiously through or something.

As for the traffic laws I fully agree, usually its the wife fussing at me for only going 5-10 over the limit, afraid I'll get 'killed' by the people behind me. I mean it'd be 'great', I guess, if the speed limit was 75 or 85 or the 95mph these people go, but its not and I know for a fact that if I followed them I would be the one getting the ticket, its just the way it always is for me. I wish the limit actually meant something just so I wouldn't feel obligated to move out of the way of these people. I also love when you're going 10 over and slowly passing people and then someone has to go to the far right lane to speed around at 90+.

I'm not sure I agree so much about the lower speed for MPG purposes, I mean I can see why its necessary here, but I've traveled at a sustained 100MPH average for 2 hours in Germany with AC blasting and STILL got 40MPG in the loaded BMW turbo diesel station wagon I was driving. Its such a wake up call that you can only shake your head. My German landlord asked what I drove in the US and didn't understand what I meant by a pick-up truck, she thought I was a delivery driver I think, I just could not explain it well enough and I didn't see one pick-up there in 3 months. They also could not believe that it used 15 litres per 100km, for reference the BMW got 6.0l/100km which is about 40mpg.

On a side note I like their motorcycle licensing system better too; (pretty much the same as asia and Australia as well) of graduated licenses starting at only 250cc class and then 500cc, etc as you learn and retest for a bigger bike. They did not believe that 16-18y/os drive 1000cc super sport bikes around here all the time, but were correct that they often have serious injuries or death pretty quickly.

I have definitely been in MA before, about 10 years ago, and although people go WAY too fast there, I've seen a single cop pull over 4 or 5 people. If they're all going 90+ and go over a hill together and he's on the other side he just points at them and they get over and wait in line for their ticket. I've never seen anything like it. I'd compare it to some kind of lottery game or something but I'm guessing these people just don't care about their tickets. Oops you got me, I'm not paying it anyway, I probably don't even have a license. I've known many people that have been driving for years (one was driving for 5 years) with a revoked license. And they keep getting speeding tickets and other violations but rarely get caught for no license, crazy! I doubt the cops even bother now though and I certainly wouldn't expect people to stop.

[theholycow]

The red light thing may be local to that area of CT. I drive in northeastern CT all the time and haven't seen that very often.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I don't know about the Northeast, but here in Virginia there are certain intersections where a left on red is legal. (From a 1 way, to a 1 way)

[VX_Arky]

Originally Posted by itjstagame

I've never seen anyone wait for passing zones. I grew up in NYS and typically you only pass on the double yellow if its clear and there's a tractor or something, but I'm newly in CT and it's insane here. If I'm only going 5 OVER the limit and sightseeing I will surely end up with a line of 10 cars and they will eventually pass on the inside of a tight corner that I would call blind but I guess whatever, getting there as aggressively as possibly is obviously more important.

Come to Arkansas saw. Life, and traffic, move a lot slower down here. It's nice, too.

[theholycow]

A BMW 5 series passed me today, totally IN the passing zone. I was amazed. Then it slowed down and matched my speed. I guess the driver didn't want to have to look at my ugly car.