Laws about coasting

[Snax]

OREGON:

811.495 Unlawful coasting on downgrade; exception; penalty. (1) A person commits the offense of unlawful coasting on a downgrade if the person is the driver of a vehicle on a downgrade and the person coasts with the gears or transmission of the motor vehicle in neutral or with the clutch disengaged.
(2) This section does not apply to the driver of a motorized bicycle.
(3) The offense described in this section, unlawful coasting on a downgrade, is a Class D traffic violation. [1983 c.338 ?656; 1985 c.16 ?321; 1995 c.383 ?76]

Apparently we can only coast on the flats or up hills. :P

Note that the wording does not appear to exclude freewheeling since a freewheel does not technically place the transmission or gears in 'neutral'.

[dkjones96]

New Mexico:
66-7-360. Coasting prohibited. The driver of any motor vehicle when traveling upon a down grade shall not coast with the clutch disengaged.

Lucky me, I can coast with the vehicle in neutral with the TCC locked!(well, once i find out what burned up in that control box)

Or on a manual, just pop it out of gear.

[GasSavers_Erik]

Originally Posted by dkjones96

New Mexico:
66-7-360. Coasting prohibited. The driver of any motor vehicle when traveling upon a down grade shall not coast with the clutch disengaged.

Wow- that's an odd law compared to the rest.

So- you can't push the clutch pedal while in gear and coast- but there is nothing against coasting in neutral with the clutch engaged (pedal up).

[Geonerd]

These laws were no doubt written with 10% grades and heavily loaded vehicles in mind.

Civil laws exist to protect a citizen's rights, person, and property. Coasting down a gentle hill is a threat to none of the above, and I'm not about to stop just because some nincompoop legislator wanted to look busy.

[dkjones96]

If you really think about it though, nobody will ever know. I seriously doubt cops look for the position of shifters in cars.

Even if you were to get into a crash, just say the crash jostled the shifter around, who cares?

[Ratman667]

Florida

316.2024 Coasting prohibited.--The driver of any motor vehicle, when traveling upon a downgrade, shall not coast with the gears or transmission of such vehicle in neutral or the clutch disengaged. A violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a moving violation as provided in chapter 318.

[theholycow]

Well, it's important to be informed and make an informed decision. Any coasting I do is harmless, and I wouldn't recommend any coasting that might be risky, so the issue isn't safety. It's good to know the laws about what you're doing.

Additionally, in discussions here and elsewhere, the legality of coasting is often questioned. With this thread I hope to gather the data in one location and make it easy to answer that question.

[smay665949]

Not to rock the boat but if coasting is illegal and people are doing it they are no different than speeders.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Another thing to think of... Over the summer I paid $1,000 for transmission repairs. I think coasting had something to do with it. I'm 100% sure the money I saved coasting didn't come close to the amount I spent getting the transmission fixed. I learned my lesson. I don't do it anymore.

-Jay

[theholycow]

I'm not convinced, but even if it was caused by engine-on coasting...manual transmissions don't share the same sensitivity.