Laurel
Well-Known Member
Frankly, the few minutes people save zipping through traffic never made much sense to me. In fact, on more than one occasion I've actually beaten or arrived at the same time as someone when I drove the 'slow and steady' method I always use and they used the 'zip in and out of traffic and always try to get going faster' method. Yeah-- that's anecdotal and thus not really a 'fact' but I personally have no problem taking my time getting where I'm going. Honestly, I find it hard to believe people's lives are made richer by filling it so full that the extra 7 minutes makes a difference.
there are 2 points to be made with this:
a) the 'joy' of driving is something many people don't experience most of the time. For example: once in a while on back country roads I like to pull out the stops and roar around in the Passat we have or even in my little Mazda. But most of the time driving is a convenient conveyance. If I could afford to have someone drive me, I would.
b) There is a big difference in gas mileage when you do slow acceleration and avoid deceleration, especially in hybrids that scavenge energy from braking. It is well documented and nigh indisputable that how you drive has a significant impact on fuel consumption (and wear and tear).
The difference in accelerating to 20 in 70 feet and accelerating to the posted speed limit(lets say 35) in 70 feet isn't gigantic. I'm not saying "floor it" every time you get a green light, but for the love of god, don't drive as slowly as possible!
When I'm driving along a road at the posted speed limit and have to hit my brakes because I come upon a prius driver that can't be bothered to go the speed limit, it hurts my mileage and slows me down. I'm not asking prius drivers to drive like racecar drivers, but it would be nice if the vast majority of them drove like regular people. My point is that the vast majority of them (at least in my part of the country) don't.
And just because you don't care when you get places doesn't mean that you need to impose your choice upon other people. Either drive the speed limit, or pull over and let all of the cars that you're holding up to pass you, and continue wasting your time. If it's 7 minutes in my car being frustrated by my car driving slowly, or 7 minutes relaxing, feeding my fish, checking my email or making dinner, I'd pick the 7 minutes choosing what I want to do over the 7 minutes waiting behind the prius.