When gas was 3.00 and over I noticed that at least to me less vehicles were on the road and people had slowed down abit. Now with gas prices dropping I have noticed more vehicles on the road and people are back to being idiots agin IMHO. i.e driving way above the speed limit and acting like they are in a NASCAR race. Just my observations.Kevin

p.s. I don't watch NASCAR! Rally yes NASCAR NO...lol

 

Hi Texashchman:

___Yep, same thing here in Chicago. I was actually proud to see 18-wheelers camping in the right lane at 52 – 57 mph … Here we are all of 6 weeks later and they are right back up at 65 – 70 + in the 55 mph zones and Diesel is still > $2.50 per! What a disgusting display of fuel economy and savings compared to much of the rest of the world Except for that ridiculous Autobahn at 100 + lunacy???

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes

 

I had noticed a similar phenomenon, which I've mentioned before. After I got my FEH, I was cruise controlling at 65 MPH, in the middle right lane on the expressways I use, and was passed by most cars, and out of the rightmost lane for people who got on and off not to have to plan around me. Everyone was happy. After gas prices shot way up, I actually found myself in the leftmost lane at times, going the same speed and passing all the cars on the expressway! As time went on, and now that gas prices are back to 2 bucks a gallon here, I'm back to being the turtle as I was before the gas price spikes.

Here in the Motor City, we're getting our first real taste of Winter, with lots of snow, slippery roads, etc (and about 300 accidents across SE Michigan). I had to go out today, but it was kind of interesting to note how my driving style is somewhat conducive to Winter driving, lots of braking time/space, lower speeds, etc. Just something interesting I noticed.

 

Rich, I noticed the same thing yesterday, when we had our first snow on the roads. Even though I was driving the '02, habits die hard, so I was still basically driving like a hypermiler (hey, better FE is good in any vehicle - but it's SO annoying not to have the immediate feedback), and I noticed that all the hypervigilance, anticipation, etc. worked well in potentially slippery situations. I was also thinking about whether I would be able to drive the Prius on a day like that (a bit of snow on the roads, they were plowed but still slippery), over the terrain I cross to get to work, and realized that my new driving technique might make that possible, whereas I probably wouldn't have felt safe before. Still more advantages to "hypermiling"!