"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit)
04/03/2014 at 00:43 • Filed to: None
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"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit)
04/03/2014 at 00:43 • Filed to: None | 2
| 7 |
Drive Smarter , yes. But does that mean driving slower? Lifehacker says !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! as going even 10 MPH over the limit will cost you in fuel and legal bills without much of a time savings. But is that really true?
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Honestly, I can't really claim one way or the other. What I can do is present my own views and counter-arguments in as logical a fashion as I can. So here we go!
Above image courtesy the Government of Tasmania (yup, a shout out to our Aussie friends)
It's not about speed, it's about flow
Eric Ravenscraft even agrees when he wrote the article - to a degree:
During high traffic hours or in heavily populated areas, the hypothetical time savings go out the window. For starters, you can't maintain any constant speed, much less one that exceeds what everyone else is traveling at.
The real issue isn't about exceeding or matching the posted speed limit, it's about how smoothly that traffic can flow (whether on the highway or from stoplight to stoplight). Thus, it's not as important that traffic follow the speed limit as so much as all participants within that traffic follow the same speed. You can argue that exceeding the flow of traffic might in itself count as speeding, but even then it shouldn't be an issue as long as the speeding driver isn't performing any action that would disrupt the greater flow (such as tailgating or weaving in and out of traffic without adequate room or warning).
This, of course, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Ideally, traffic will not only maintain a steady flow but also leave enough room so that traffic can freely maneuver if necessary without disrupting that flow - of course, that's rarely practical for a number of reasons (perhaps the largest of which is a lack of proper driver's training or just plain old driver apathy) but driving the speed limit when the rest of traffic is clearly going faster will create only more problems.
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Speaking of which....
Hogging the left lane, even when you're "going at the speed limit" is often not a wise idea. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
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It's more legal than you think
The Lifehacker article itself freely admits that speeding 10 MPH over the posted limit is, in most cases, legal:
That being said, we won't pretend that speeding isn't a pretty common occurrence. In most states, you can get away with less than 10mph over the speed limit. For reference sake, we'll take a look at how much an extra 10mph can help.
Most of the article actually details the diminishing returns of even greater excesses over the speed limit, but it still stands that there is a bit of "wiggle room" when it comes to how that posted limit is enforced - especially when it's to maintain the flow of traffic where appropriate (where whether and highway conditions permit).
The gas savings of slowing down aren't worth disrupting the traffic flow
The above graph comes from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - but ironically, as you can see, fuel usage is pretty flat from as low as 40 MPH all the way to up to 70 MPH. There are several reasons for that - namely, engines and transmissions are designed in anticipation that this particular speed range is where the car will be cruising most of the time (in line with typical municipal street and highway speeds). If you can find it appropriate to slow down to save gas, go for it - but slowing down in the left lane to save fuel isn't worth the road rage and lack of courtesy to your fellow drivers.
A few things that can help - a supplement
Obviously, the point of this article isn't to attack Eric Ravenscraft and the advice he gives is fundamentally good - but a few supplemental thoughts are also worth putting into consideration.
Planning out your daily commute can itself run into diminishing returns. As Ravenscraft himself implies it's not worth putting so much thought that you defeat the purpose. However, do be aware of exactly what route you take when you commute. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . For example, when you are stopped at a light, take note of the intersection. Better yet, use Google Earth to note all the available routes. Traffic patterns will not always dictate the most direct route being the shortest. I've found it worth my while to do some exploring on foot (or rather, in the car) as opposed to just staring at a map and if nothing else becoming familiar with an alternate route in case an accident slows down traffic on the primary route, or if I find some unanticipated factor that makes the new alternate more efficient than the primary route on a daily basis.
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Avoiding left turns and roundabouts are nice - unfortunately the latter is particularly rare in the U.S. (and given the level of driving I typically witness, I'm thoroughly convinced is completely unfeasible in this country anyway). That said, consider going right instead of straight if given the opportunity - a left turn at a long green light with light traffic might be better than waiting it out at a red light even if you simply want to get to the other side of the intersection. This will be very tough to nail down without perfect clairvoyance - but once again, being familiar with your route and especially paying attention to where traffic seems to be heaviest will help. As I've mentioned, it's easy to invest more than enough time and energy to defeat the purpose, but it's always worth paying extra attention to how traffic behaves as you drive.
Sir-Loinington
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
04/03/2014 at 00:54 |
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Also, some studies in the UK (y the government, feel free to google, too lazy ATM) have shown that a fairly small percentage of accidents are actually caused by excessive speed..
Merkin Muffley
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
04/03/2014 at 00:59 |
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Limited access roads are one thing, but the one place it is indisputably dumb to speed is around town. Cops pull you at lower speeds, the lights negate any time savings, and you waste a lot of gas in the process.
Squid
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
04/03/2014 at 01:14 |
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Honestly some of the best gas mileage I ever got with my old car was when I was traveling at a constant 90 MPH. As long as you are not a tool and appreciate how traffic flows and are attentive to who is following you and who is sitting on the sides of the road getting pulled over really is just something you should expect when you exceed the speed limit or do it while not paying attention to the roads. But around town there is really no reason to speed, especially in the town I live in where all roads are limited to 35 MPH and the one highway we have is 55 MPH and turns into a two lane road that goes through towns and gets put down to 35 MPH in nice annoying intervals. I think the main thing people need to do is just actually learn the rules of the road and need to stop being dicks. But I really appreciate when a dick is going ~95 on the freeway and I get to use them as cop bait. . .
Kailand09
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
04/03/2014 at 01:37 |
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good points. I only made it through half that article before deciding it was misguided stupidity.
banjo cat ghost of oppo past
> Kailand09
04/03/2014 at 07:49 |
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That's most of lifehacker, and half of the commenters are those self-help dipshits pimping their own content. Probably the first time in years I've read most of an article let alone bothered to venture over. I find jezebel more compelling, and even they usually make me want to gouge my eyes out with a grapefruit spoon
davedave1111
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
04/03/2014 at 10:37 |
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That article might as well have just said 'speeding often doesn't save all that much time, and situational awareness is important anyway'.
The first point is true, even though it's not universal: unless you have quite a large difference in speed and a fairly long distance to cover, you just aren't going to save much time. But since on busyish roads there's usually not a very big spread of speeds between the fast and slow traffic, if you're not going that far it's often better to stick to the slower traffic than bother dealing with lane changes, overtaking and all the idiots in the 'fast lane'.
GrauGeist
> Sir-Loinington
04/09/2014 at 19:17 |
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Don't tell the insurance companies!