It might be interesting to speculate if the rest of the world (or at least America) drove like us.

The gas pump price would nationally be under $1.50, maybe even at $1.00, no heating oil shortage. A serious upgrade of CAFE standards would be law, Hummer dealerships would close.

 

More results of that:

1. Car insurance rates would drop because claims and wrecks would plummet.

2. Health insurance rates would drop because fewer people would be killed and injured in car wrecks.

3. Prices of cars would drop because carmakers would not be required to continually invest in better and better safety devices in cars because of the already mentioned lower death and accident cases.

4. More hybrids would be sold, driving down the price of hybrids and replacement parts.

I'll think of others and post them as we go along......
OK MORE:

5. Air would be cleaner, lowering cancer rates.

6. Global warming due to vehicle CO2 emissions would slow.

7. Highway repair costs (and maybe hwy tax rates) would drop because lower speeds do less damage to the roads.

 

• Major US Metro areas would have fewer ozone alert days.
• Cities would be less concerned with EPA penalities due to bad air quality.
• Fewer tires and brakes sold
• Less body shop work

 

i would not regularly get my doors blown off by half witted morons in their overdone chevy pickups. tons on the road today as hunting season starts.

 

I'll second laurie's point that a lot of aggressive and thoughtless driving would disappear.

• no swerving, including jumping several lane to take an exit.
• no speeding to stop lights.
• no drivers chatting on the phone in the middle of rush hour traffic.

Another point: vehicles over 8,500 pounds such as the H2 and Ford Excursion would have to publish their fuel economy.

 

Hopefully, if every car buyer had a GH frame of mind, these huge wastes of metal would cease to exist, no?

 

I'm thinking of the transition to a GH frame of mind.

As the transition is happening, women would taunt guys trying to score with Ford F350 pickup trucks with comments like: "Oh, this is better than Viagra?" In short, the new peer pressure would make any self-respecting man feel castrated if they did not legitimately need a huge pickup truck (i.e. urban commutes to work).

 

You wouldn't have to drive any differently, you'd just have to drive a different vehicle. In fact, driving a different vehicle would make way more of a difference than driving differently. Someone who drives their Lincoln Navigator a little more smartly might get an increase from 14 to 17 miles per gallon, but if they purchased a Mazda 6 sportswagon instead, they should get 24mpg or so. I would use CAFE to make fuel-inefficient vehicles WAY more expensive, and thus reduce the number of them sold.

 

National stress would be down, brake pad repairs would be way down. Auto shops may close down.

 

LOL, the Excursion is already discontinued I believe.... gas prices.