Article: Dangerous Hypermilers

I agree with you Jack. Most of the hypermilers on this site know what there doing. In My town all the prius drivers aren't hypermilers, they are just really old! They refuse to drive the speedlimit because it scares them.

 

But it does point out how this is nothing new.

Decades of driver behavior have proven more is needed... which is where hybrid technology comes in.

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not a bad article at all.

the only odd thing that struck me as odd in the article was websites like cleanmpg.com that
take this whole saving gas thing as a movement/cult sorta status to them. they are way
too into it and take themselves too seriously for MY taste. They have basically taken
a driving style and gave it an "internet mashup name" and claimed it as their "own".
whatever! hehe.

 

This must have been the article a certain Chicago radio DJ was quoting as he and his sidekick were cackling over the "Stupid" and "really stupid" things those "Crazy hypermilers" were doing.

I wanted to call and tell him that some of the things are just fine to, such as drafting several car lengths back of a closed van trailer, or coasting when the opportunity is there and so forth. Clearly, rolling through a stop sign isn't a good idea, neither is tailgating a garbage truck!:rant:

 

Another part of the article talked about how much efficiency you lose over 55. One of my coworkers insisted that her sister (who has a big honkin' something) gets it's BEST mileage over 60-65. I said, "I don't think so!"

 

I wonder how much it would save me in my Infiniti to try hypermiling? My drive to work every day is populated with large trucks of all kinds. Hmmm, have to try that out.

 

Interesting Article, the last part about the guy in Maryland that got pulled over and given a warning for doing 50 in a 65 is interesting. Maryland must have a very high minimum speed limit. Becuase here in Illinois on the expressways the minimum speed limit is 45mph regardless if the max speed limit is 55 or 65. So if that same guy was driving here on an Illinois expressway doing 50 in a 65, he would NOT be breaking the law or impeding traffic.

 

Hi All,

The AAA (Anti-American Automobile Association ? ) has started an anti-hypermiling campaign. Your going to see these articles from every media outlet for a while. CleanMPG guys have informed AAA they are droping their coverage, and will not renew.

BTW, the Maryland driver was in an Insight. Its highly unlikely he was impeding any traffic, and this is probably why he got a warning. Officer apparently had a problem with what is legal activity, that he personally did not like. If he wrote a ticket, he would have had to come to court, and get laughed out of the place by the judge. And of course, Judges have memories. So this is something the officer just did not do.

The Connecticut State Police say they are going to do a selective enforcement against anybody they believe is hypermiling. So, watch out there, drive the speed limit, and they will pull you over now, if everybody else on the road is going faster. Connecticut must be short of fuel tax money.

One comment from the CleanMPG crowd, is that many many media people have gone along on hypermiling runs with their members, including Dan Rather with Wayne Gerdes. Not one of these reports indicated any danger by the media reporters.

These hypermiling-is-dangerous reports have only started to come out SINCE the AAA campaign has started. Coincidentally, the same day I heard a local report about yet another P/U truck running off the road and smashing into a store front - I doubt this guy was hypermiling. Not one AAA commentor, or policy maker, has indicated they have gone along for any hypermiler demonstrations. They apparently are making ignoramous comments with little understanding.

One of the AAA comments was that over-inflating tires is dangerous, without any clarification of what that means. Clearly an imprecise catch-all debating technique. A reply to that was that the Ford Explorer tire failures were half due to tire problems, BUT also due to the TOO LOW tire inflation pressure placard on the door of the Ford Explorer (26 PSI - YIKES!). Inflating to the max recomended tire sidewall pressure is recommended by police persuit driving instructors as the safest practice for cars (officer.com). Michelin indicates that low tire pressures, which result in low center patch pressures (like in the Prius door placard recommendations) is a hazard in hydroplaning situations, as the water will work its way into the center of the patch. Pictures of the water doing this are on various tire retailer websites. Clearly, for a Prius, the door placard tire pressures are too low, and one should use the side-wall or slightly below for best safety.

BTW, the best improvement I have gotten lately is the Super Highway mode. For me that is a 53 mph / 1280 RPM cruise in the right lane with a 6 or 7 bar SOC. The Prius wont go into that mode, until the SOC is up to that level.

I think we should all get new bumper stickers - "Faster Traffic STAY LEFT" .

 

Hi Michelle,

Yes, he could be impeding traffic in the right circumstance. And as impeding traffic is also illegal in Illinois, then he would be breaking the law.

Here is an example circumstance. Driving out of the Chicagoland area, say on I55, down by Joliet, during rush hour. If there is a 65 mph zone down there (have not been there in a while) and the center lane is doing 60, and he is doing 50 in the left lane, with a large gap in front of him, well that is impedeing traffic. As the cars behind him could speed up 15 mph legally, and there is very little chance that there is a traffic jam below say 15 mph for the next 10 miles. Traffic tends to just get lighter and lighter as you proceed further and further out of the area.

This is probably not what happened in Maryland. When is the last time you went to the airport, and did not have to deal with traffic ?

 

When I left home at 4:30 am :car:

 

I drive (dependent on the weather) 5 mph under the limit, right hand lane, on the highway in NM. 60 or 65 delivers an average weekly mpg over 50.
I think all this is a culture clash where our society is economically transforming to a culture of conservation required within one's lifestyle rather than conservation as a hobby lifestyle and many do not know which way to turn as of yet. Therefore the learning curve produces incompetent hypermilers over reacting to facts, in the same traffic pool as the frantic rushing to work at any speed SUV drivers refusing/unable to face facts. Combine this with the media as a zombie cheerleader and the world is going to get strange for awhile about many things.
just my thoughts
Froley