One of my motor racing buddies reckons that the most dangerous form of motorsport is economy driving. “You crawl uphill, belt downhill, and hurtle through villages without slowing for roundabouts and junctions.”
Remembering the last petrol shortage and the antics of local drivers (myself included), I can only agree with him. Drive and Survive, a company which offers advanced driver training, says that drivers who’ve been through their driver training programme improve their mpg by around 22%. Twenty-two per cent? I can do a lot better than that, mate. I reckon I up my mpg by around 100% when I’m seriously worried I’ll run out of juice. Perhaps it would be more environmentally friendly to have long straight roads and no speed bumps.
The most dangerous form of driving on public roads is that which is currently imposed by most local authorities in the form of enforced adherence to misguided regulations which cause drivers to focus their attention on local speed limits and related speed camera and speed bump locations etc as opposed to concentration on the ever-changing requirements of current road & traffic conditions.
And as you say, fuel economy would benefit from steady-state throttle cruising as opposed to the constant on-off requirements of the imposed nanny systems.
AlfaMartini | 28 Aug 07 - 18:23A truly advanced driver is one who can open a Moto sandwich without first putting down the ‘phone. In fact, anyone who can open a Moto sandwhich should be applauded, whether or not they are also driving.
By the way, the quickest way to reduce the nation’s fuel consumption is to make dogs and children walk. If there’s nowhere in the neighbourhood suitable for dog walking, then don’t buy a dog. Taking dogs to a suitable place (for the owners, that is) when repeated millions of times every day by senseless and selfish dog-owners is as gross a waste of precious energy as watching Big Brother or East Enders, and should be made illegal. In fact, I am fully behind the proposed Carriage of Dogs by Mechanical Conveyance Prevention Act, which is about to be presented to Parliament.
Graham Whyte | 03 Sep 07 - 15:05