Starting to Change?
 

Have you guys seen any changes in peoples driveing? How people are doing 55mph. Seeing more hybrids and less suv's. How about your friends starting agreeing with you on how you want a hybrid and how they are pretty cool now. I have been seeing all these and more what have you seen if anything.

Actually, the highways are slowing down a lot round here... I couldn't drive around at less than 110% of the limit without getting aggressively tailgated, cut off etc etc, a few months ago, but everything has got more mellow lately... I'm just cruisin' at 95% in the slow lane now and people are just edging by me, I get a train of saturns and honda civics forming behind me, not tailgating close, it's like they're just staying in the edge of the draft and using me as pacesetter.

I've been very surprised at the drivers here in ABQ lately. I don't see a whole lot of people grossly speeding or anything, but the speed cameras on the freeway are to blame for that I think. Whatever works!

speed cameras? were is that?

the slowdown has been pretty mild in iowa, i still have to speed to get any drafting action, aside from some 18wheelers doing 70 on the interstate.

i have noticed though that the average size of the passenger vehicle on the road has shrunk noticably over the last year (myself included)

I agree, it's like that around here, too. :thumbup:
Some times I'll look in the rearview mirror and see another car following at a reasonable distance and keeping that distance nice and steady. Sometimes I'll catch up to a car that's going a little slower than I was, so I'll match their pace and save a little more gas. Naturally I'll be respectfull and follow them at a steady pace so they don't think I'm a tailgater and get upset. I think this 'slowdown' thing is going to workout OK.

6 years ago on 95 between Richmond and DC if you went 80 you didn't get passed much, 64 from Richmond to Williamsburg was not quite as bad, but close. Speed limit is 65.

Two weeks ago on 95 I was going about 66 in the right lane following a tractor trailer who was going the same speed, and I got almost 66 MPG, in my recently accquired low mileage VX. In general traffic was mostly doing 65-70 with a few going faster.

Today driving 12 miles on 64 west from Newport News to Williamsburg I followed a truck at 60-65, and almost no one was passing me, except for a couple of tailgating SUV morons when I moved to the left lane to exit (only left lane exit between Newport News and Richmond).

I also noticed the volume of traffic has dropped considerably, it was between 1 and 2 PM when most people are still at work.

regards
gary

I think sometimes we see what we want to see in others. Other times we see the insanity, like today as a jacked up H2 passed me at 70+ mph while I meandered along at the PSL of 55. I suspect the H2 fuel economy was 1/2 of mine, nevermind the overall cost per mile for a piece of crap 25 year old car that is paid off vs. ???

I25 through Albuquerque, NM

No change near me, doing 70 is still a center or right lane deal.
Too many Jerzy Gurls need their big SUV's while chatting on the phone and driving at 80mph.

Gotta be the first at those sales at the mall you know. ;)

no change in central florida either. the only people driving slow are tourists that don't know where they're going!

as consumer products go up in price with these gas prices, i wonder when OTHER taxes are going to be raised with the increase in gov't budget due to their extra fuel costs?

yea people around here are driving a bit slower, of course its the first nice week so everyones prolly mellowing out enjoying the cruise with the windows down.

everyones still driving dumber than rocks tho, acting like the turn signal lever just turned into a cactus or something, watched some lady make a left turn on a 4 lane highway from the far right lane, people stopping at the end of on ramps, people not getting over for you to merge when noone else is near them, doing the California roll thru stop signs, running redlights...

Yep, despite the general lack of aggressive driving, I've had 3 very near misses over the last week. :eek: People doing really, really, stupid crap.

The government hasn't really said anything about it. But the military has been told to reduce its fleet fuel consumption by I think 15% in the next 5 years.

like today, i almost got my rear bumper taken off by some douchebag who wanted to make a right turn up ahead off a 4 lane highway but decided his steering wheel was really heavy and couldn't turn it enough to get over in the turn lane as i was braking behind a semi for the red light...

then about got ran over by a hummer that decided to whip around me and about sideswiped a civic in the process ... then she about rear ended the guy she gunned it up behind... I swear if it were legal I would have shot her...:mad:

Nobody is slowing down around here. I've still got people blowing by me at 75+ on a regular basis.

it's hard to tell if people have slowed down here, since my cruise control is still pretty spotty, but new truck sales seems down. I can't remember the last time i saw a truck with out plates. We still have about 75% of traffic as suv or trucks, but of these, only 0.5% is muddy or hauling a load.

Nope, around here it's the same ole same ole, no one goes below 70 and they're all doing 80.

Drove my "new" CRX from Orlando, Florida to Charleston, WV the other day and I can tell you that people were NOT slowing down. Driving like total idiots. Had one idiot in Orlando in an Acura trying to tailgate with about 4 feet between us, and he kept trying to pass. This in total rush hour traffic in the "fast" lane. The "fast" lane does not mean 20 MPH+ over what everyone else around you is doing, or that much over the posted speed limit, etc.

It's like when cigarettes hit some magic number that smokers will stop smoking. I have a few friends who smoke and they have sworn over the years to stop when it reaches $X per pack yet still haven't. People are in a hurry to get to/from work to overpay for their mortgage, overpriced fuel-inefficient vehicle, etc.

Maybe I'm simply growing accustomed to driving slowly now. When I first dropped my freeway speed I got anxious whenever another car got behind me since I just assumed I was holding them up and pissing them off. Now I just keep my speed nice and steady and let the car behind me take care of itself. Suprisingly, some cars will follow for a while with no drama. They're OK with my pace, too. Just today I had a line of about 5 or 6 cars behind me. No one was tailgating, they held their speed steady. We were in the slow lane with 3 other lanes available for passing. I'd like to think they were comfortable with the speed and situation. I felt like the first goose in a migrating formation. Someone has to take the lead and show what pace is acceptable on the road. Lately I'm starting to see other driver who are willing to let a slower driver set the pace. I'm sure there are others out there who still feel societal pressures to drive fast, but now there's pressure to drive slower, especially now that gas is over $4 a gallon in this area.

I've noticed it around here in Indianapolis. People aren't whizzing by anymore at 80+mph, now if I get passed they are usually doing 68-70mph.

As for my personal driving habits I have slowed down considerably in my SUV, dropping my speed from 75 to 55 saw my MPG go from 15 to nearly 18. On the other hand I have not slowed down in my BMW. I haven't been able to get a noticeable drop in MPG by slowing down. Using the trip computer or computing by hand I get 28mpg no matter what. But I think I have been employing hipermiling techniques unconsciously for a long time. I have always kept the motors in low RPM, skip shifted and I never jack rabbit starts. I did it because I don't like to beat on my cars but it turns out it helps FE as well!

I kind of wonder if cops are going to start getting more aggressive about speeding tickets as people are slowing down. As in it is usually acceptable to go 5-10 over the limit, but now they may start giving tickets for 5 over.

5-10 over??? lol your lucky to not get followed or not pulled over for going anywhere near 5 over around here...

thought i would get pulled over when in the middle of EOC a cop pulled behind me as we approached an off ramp.

i bump started ever so gently, then he preceded to follow me for 10+ miles with PLENTY opportunity to pass. i drove the speed limit rather than below it :mad: , to not seem suspicious.

Yes, definitely have. It's subtle, but not ignorable. When I showed a friend at school how I do EOC all around town--he was totally baffled that I can so seemlessly kill the engine with no ill effects and was like "you gotta show me how to do that." I also see people driving slower. The number of Priuses has been growing steadily over the last few years as well as Hybrid SUVs.

One thing I often notice is when I'm P&Ging on a state road with someone behind me if I do a fast pulse after slowing to 40mph, they often don't speed up, and kinda linger at 40, maybe speed up to 45--it's almost like I've bamboozled them by my odd driving--they end up slowing down overall--allowing me to maintain a low average P&G speed. That, or they pass. But they usually don't tailgate. Kinda interesting.

not many slowing down yet, but i see more small cars and possibly less traffic.