Eco-driving brings out the worst in people

Gegerty

Recently I've started trying to drive more efficiently. Keeping my speeds close to or at the limits, predicting red lights and delays up ahead and easing to a stop rather than braking whenever possible. If you haven't tried it you should do so for a week and keep an eye on your fuel gauge compared to a week of normal drving, you'll be peasantly surprised. You'll also be pleasantly surprised at how it does not slow down your journey time in any way.

One thing I've noticed is that it seems to bring out the worst in my fellow drivers. Now I'm by no means crawling along and holding up the traffic. If the light ahead is red, then whats the problem? People still find it necessary to overtake me and accelarte in anger only to have to slam on the brakes when they cop on the light is red. Others will sit right up my ass, close enough for me to see them f-ing me out of it. I don't know, maybe there should be an eco-driver label you can stick in your back window, or maybe people should be educated in city driving so that they realise getting to the red light faster does not speed up your journey.

towel401

its because everyone is in a huge rush these days. not necessarily because they actually have something important to do, but because rushing makes them feel more important. of course some are actually in a rush to get to work so they dont risk getting their brand new 08 car reposessed

fletch

I get it all the time particularly on the M50 in crawling traffic....I tend to leave it in first gear and just crawl, while everyone else accelerates and brakes, I've often gone the entire way down the M50 in rush hour traffic and never used neutral. But yeh I regularly have people beeping/flashing/overtaking only to have to slam on the brakes as you say.

Gegerty

fletch wrote: »

I get it all the time particularly on the M50 in crawling traffic....I tend to leave it in first gear and just crawl, while everyone else accelerates and brakes, I've often gone the entire way down the M50 in rush hour traffic and never used neutral. But yeh I regularly have people beeping/flashing/overtaking only to have to slam on the brakes as you say.

Yep its not just for city driving. Actually its more efficient during rush hour motor way traffic because there are less surprise braking. In fact, as you say you can do a whole journet without braking. You'll often find those who duck and dive in and out of lanes often end up behind you at some point

Heroditas

Gas. You'd get faulted in your driving test for coasting yet it's more environmentally friendly and easier on the pocket! :pac:

Gegerty

Heroditas wrote: »

Gas. You'd get faulted in your driving test for coasting yet it's more environmentally friendly and easier on the pocket! :pac:

Obviously while still in gear. Nothing against the rules about it at all.

Heroditas

Gegerty wrote: »

Obviously while still in gear.

Ah! That's different.

congo_90

Lads correct me if i'm wrong here, but i thought gradually braking for a red light up ahead and eventually dropping gears was more efficient than coasting. My interpretation of coastin is to hold the clutch, thus idling the engine?

MarkR

Something similar happened to me in cork a while back. I was changing lanes in traffic, so I was astride two lanes, leaving the right hand land. Light was red in the right hand lane, with 1 stopped car and maybe room for one more behind it at the light. Mr. Impatient behind me beeping away so he could wait 10 feet further up in the queue for the light to change. I rolled down the window and told him if he didn't like waiting to just press the levitate button in his car. He of course roared he didn't, and I said Neither did I, so stop beeping!

BrianD3

A balance can be achieved though. For instance there is a road I often drive on which is a long downhill straight (100 km/h zone) leading into a village (50 km/h zone). If there is nobody behind me for a good distance I will lift my foot off the gas hundreds of metres in advance of the village. If there is somebody up my ass I will usually lift off later. When exiting a motorway I will generally lift off as soon as I exit but not before as I think slowing down on a motorway mainline before you take your exit is often inconsiderate.

HydeRoad

My take from the OP is that he is not coasting, that was a bad choice of word. He is simply taking his foot off the accelerator earlier, and letting the car ease to a stop in gear, only clutching in at the last minute.

In an ideal world, you could drive from A to B using the pedals as minimally as possible, to achieve maximum efficiency. Every time you press a pedal, you are wasting fuel and creating wear and tear, in a tiny way.

Of course the reaction of other drivers is predictable. Apart from the usual aggressors, who have to be in front at all costs (and usually delay you once they do get in front), what about, for instance, the guy waiting at a red light. You observe the red light in advance, adjust your speed, and aim to arrive in third gear just as the light goes green. The light goes green exactly as you predicted, you arrive behind the guy at the light, who doesn't move, forcing you to stop needlessly, and start again in first. Very annoying, too.

We have to share the road with overly aggressive people, but also with people who pay scant or no attention to their driving or the road conditions around them, to signals, or other road users. It should be possible to a) drive at maximum efficiency, and b) drive in a manner that does not cause other drivers to stop needlessly. That means moving off on green, keeping up with the general, most efficient pace of things, and PAYING ATTENTION.

Slim chance...

Nevyn

Isn't that how we are ment to drive ?

E92

Gegerty wrote: »

Recently I've started trying to drive more efficiently. Keeping my speeds close to or at the limits, predicting red lights and delays up ahead and coasting to a stop rather than braking whenever possible. If you haven't tried it you should do so for a week and keep an eye on your fuel gauge compared to a week of normal drving, you'll be peasantly surprised. You'll also be pleasantly surprised at how it does not slow down your journey time in any way.

One thing I've noticed is that it seems to bring out the worst in my fellow drivers. Now I'm by no means crawling along and holding up the traffic. If the light ahead is red, then whats the problem? People still find it necessary to overtake me and accelarte in anger only to have to slam on the brakes when they cop on the light is red. Others will sit right up my ass, close enough for me to see them f-ing me out of it. I don't know, maybe there should be an eco-driver label you can stick in your back window, or maybe people should be educated in city driving so that they realise getting to the red light faster does not speed up your journey.

Completely agree. Now I don't bother with the keeping to the speed limit thing by and large, but I certainly do all the other things the OP says; my favourite is when I see a red light up ahead, I always slow down to a snail's pace, and low and behold by the time I get to the light, 99% of the time it's gone green, so not only have I saved on fuel, but I've also saved on wear and tear on my car's brakes, engine and clutch AND I'll get where I want to faster because I didn't have to stop at the lights.

The same principle is behind why Motorways and Dual Carriageways are better for the environment - there's far less varying of speed on them and you very rarely have to stop on them either, and changing your speed - particularly when it's done rapidly as is the case when you don't go and anticipate lights etc is what does a lot more damage for the environment(not to mention your car) rather than the nonsense about going fast.

fletch

E92 wrote: »

Completely agree. Now I don't bother with the keeping to the speed limit thing by and large, but I certainly do all the other things the OP says; my favourite is when I see a red light up ahead, I always slow down to a snail's pace, and low and behold by the time I get to the light, 99% of the time it's gone green, so not only have I saved on fuel, but I've also saved on wear and tear on my car's brakes, engine and clutch AND I'll get where I want to faster because I didn't have to stop at the lights.

I do the exact same, as soon as I see a light turning red I lift off. On faster roads, as soon as someone brakes I lift off, I then judge by how quickly they are slowing and if I need to brake, generally I don't as the driver in front is normally travelling too close to the car in front of them and has to continually come on and off the brakes, I just sit back and don't touch my brakes.

fletch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermiling - for anyone that's interested

Gegerty

Editied coasting to easing. Poor choice of words.

aquascrotum

A significant proportion of rush hour congestion in this country would be eased if people would do one thing - keep your distance.

So many times I've sat in a jam on the M1 all because of the concertina affect of people driving up each others arse. Unbelievably frustrating.

I wouldn't describe myself as an Eco driver - but I do tend to get good mileage and economy (significantly better than those who I share the car with). A large problem is that many people have no notion of how the mechanics of the car are operating, and have no desire to find out once the key goes round and the engine starts. A basic knowledge of the systems involved helps anyone instinctively know what is good for the car and what will aid it's longevity and efficiency. For instance driving styles for diesel cars and petrol cars are totally different. IMO an element of basic car maintenance and background knowledge should be required to pass the driving test - but considering we're only starting to deal with the numbers of drivers blasting past at 90mph on our new motorways who've never so much as had a driving lesson let alone a test, I fear we'll have to delay that idea for a bit.

Stark

E92 wrote:

Completely agree. Now I don't bother with the keeping to the speed limit thing by and large, but I certainly do all the other things the OP says; my favourite is when I see a red light up ahead, I always slow down to a snail's pace, and low and behold by the time I get to the light, 99% of the time it's gone green, so not only have I saved on fuel, but I've also saved on wear and tear on my car's brakes, engine and clutch AND I'll get where I want to faster because I didn't have to stop at the lights.

Yup, I do the same. It annoys me when you do it on the N11 and you have it perfectly timed, only for someone to overtake you, pull in front of you and cause you to have to brake.

Now what does piss me off is the people who will stop a car length or two away from the car in front/the lights, then creep a little forward, stop again, creep another bit forward. I remember reading in the Hibernian Ignition handouts that it was to reduce the chances of being rear-ended. Give me strength...

EL_Loco

it all depends on circumstance.

If you're slowing far from a set of lights due to them being red (set , but have only gone through a set yourself (set A), you're causing a slow down in the throughput of set A, and you deserve a slap.

If someone is tailgating you on a motorway while you're doing 60+ MPH they deserve a slap.

in heavy city traffic at peak times I stay very close to the guy in front because not to do so is doing a disservice to other drivers. They may feel you're too close, or up they ar$e but once I'm clear of the city and going faster, I leave a safe distance ahead.

Just on the side, anyone car pool? is there a thread or a poll already?

BluntGuy

I actually find it strange that some people think they're going to get from A to B faster by driving up each other's arse. It ain't gonna make the light go green sooner, or magically increase the speed limits so why bother doing it?

Somebody overtook me the other day about 50 metres from a roundabout? What point were they trying to prove? Soon after, when driving on the M8 near Mitchelstown, a van overtook me merely a few hundred metres from the (terminal) exit. I couldn't understand it. Why was he in such a rush? Often, that kind of event makes me feel like I'm driving too slow, but I was driving at 120 (even though the speed limit until Sep 24th is 100).

Those kind of drivers make me feel SICK.

gixerfixer

I've being driving in a Eco-friendly style for the last 3 months or so. I've worked out im saving about 15 a week on fuel costs compared to the style i used to drive. Funny thing is im finding myself to be much less stressed when i get to where im going also and to me that's a big change. A woman driver the other day (Mini cooper,big shades) on the M50 in rush hour speeding up slowing down real quick whilst i just kept it steady all the way. I could see her in the wing mirror with a big pissed off look on her face. That kind of sh*t used to annoy me but i just laughed at her and actually felt a bit sorry for her. What was the point?

Stark

BluntGuy wrote: »

I actually find it strange that some people think they're going to get from A to B faster by driving up each other's arse. It ain't gonna make the light go green sooner, or magically increase the speed limits so why bother doing it?

They're hoping you'll be intimidated and speed up.

BluntGuy wrote: »

Somebody overtook me the other day about 50 metres from a roundabout? What point were they trying to prove? Soon after, when driving on the M8 near Mitchelstown, a van overtook me merely a few hundred metres from the (terminal) exit. I couldn't understand it. Why was he in such a rush? Often, that kind of event makes me feel like I'm driving too slow, but I was driving at 120 (even though the speed limit until Sep 24th is 100).

I find people speed up and overtake people coming close to ends of motorways as they're afraid the driver ahead will turn into a member of the 50mph brigade once they get off the dual carriageway.

corktina

Thaedydal wrote: »

Isn't that how we are ment to drive ?

exactly....but then again Im UK trained....lack anticipation is one of the biggest problems with Irish drivers....

Saruman

I was on the M4 a few weeks back, heading home. I do not drive economically for the most part. I take off fast from the toll booth. Anyway a few lanes over someone in a new 08 prius took off even faster but got stuck behind someone so i went past him. After a while i was doing about 130kph or so, probably a little more when the prius comes tearing past me in the overtaking lane and does not slow down. Pretty ironic i thought that he bought a car that is supposed to be fuel efficient (though not as good as most cars on the market) and drives it at in the least economic way.

The difference between driving my car economically (40mpg) and normal driving (30mpg is about 50 miles or so per fill.

One thing i do a lot is when approaching my exit on a motorway i take my foot off the gas and let it slow down naturally. Also in bumper to bumper i take my foot off and let it roll forward itself. That is the goof thing about an auto. A little less fuel efficient than a manual but used correctly it can be pretty efficient.

Lennoxschips

The driving test system in Ireland is to blame.

I was taught to drive at a Dutch driving school, hours of being shouted at and told to anticipate, anticipate, anticipate. We'd do the same piece of hellhole of a road over and over and over again. So lifting the foot off the accelerator before corners, red lights, when there's brake lights ahead, etc. is normal for me. I wouldn't call it "eco driving", but normal driving. If you have to brake on a motorway then you can't drive (unless somebody in front of you slams on the brakes, but there's not much you can do about that).

In Ireland people learn to drive from their mam and dad, old habits are inherited etc. Nobody has been taught to anticipate or anything. The standard of motorway driving in Ireland is by far the worst I've seen in any country. People genuinely **** themselves when merging onto the motorway, and the people already on the motorway have no idea what to do either. It's a total mess. And everybody seems to cruise in the fast lane, all tailgating each other.

Rowley Birkin QC

If I know that the road is about to deteriorate in quality and the person in front of me is dawdling/HGV I'll make a big effort to overtake before the motorway exit. Nothing dangerous but I will push on.

The Cork motorway exit at Portloaise is an example. Invariably there will be a few artics in the line of traffic heading south. I always try and get past as many of these as possible before heading off myself because the quality of the road goes down and overtaking becomes more dangerous.

towel401

Lennoxschips wrote: »

T
In Ireland people learn to drive from their mam and dad, old habits are inherited etc. Nobody has been taught to anticipate or anything. The standard of motorway driving in Ireland is by far the worst I've seen in any country. People genuinely **** themselves when merging onto the motorway, and the people already on the motorway have no idea what to do either. It's a total mess. And everybody seems to cruise in the fast lane, all tailgating each other.

thats not the only cause of it - the testers seem to digg the whole thing with speeding up fast, then driving at exactly the speed limit. if you see a red light in the distance and cruise up to it slowly they knock you for it. they like the whole rat race - this used to be a nice country but now everybody is in a huge ****er of a rush to get to their office job so they can pay off their '08 car and their ****ty little semi-detached estate house in a satellite town outside Dublin.

holland is far worse though, there are very few country roads since the place is so damn packed. they have some of the most bizarre rules going - small side streets leading to estates have right of way over the bigger road they join up to so in theory you could just drive out of an estate onto the main road without stopping but it doesn't really work like that. they both have to stop. then there's all the flower pots and 10 different types of speed bump to slow you down even more. mobile speed traps everywhere - cops sitting under a bridge in their ugly little Nissan Primastar waiting for someone doing 101km/h to come along.

the people there are a pain in the ass too, they love snitching, complaining to the 'Gemeente' if anybody wrongs them in the slightest way. if ya do anything wrong while driving there they will give ya road rage or call the cops or some special agency set up to take all these snitch calls or maybe both. they want to introduce road charing there too. the people have no space to live - their houses are the size of a large cardboard box so they are fiercely defensive of their little space

Stark

towel401 wrote:

thats not the only cause of it - the testers seem to digg the whole thing with speeding up fast, then driving at exactly the speed limit. if you see a red light in the distance and cruise up to it slowly they knock you for it.

No they don't.