Evlyone's a rittre bit lacist

 

I've become an old man. But the pay off it completely worth it.

 

Last Wednesday I drove to Huntsville and back. I didn't drive over 60 the whole trip. The next day, I drove to Opelika, AL. I never drove over 62 miles per hour. Even on the interstate.

 

Cars were flying by as I steadily drove. Tractor-trailers roared past almost as if I were sitting still. Small children were pointing to laugh at me. None of it bothered me. I was conducting an experiment. My hypothesis was proven correct.

 

I cannot claim ownership of the plan. I believe Richard Nixon first brought it to the public consciousness, but few of you are old enough to remember Richard Nixon. Except maybe as the object of Michael J. Fox’s affections on Family Ties. During the oil embargo of the 1970s President Nixon along with Congress imposed a Federal Speed Limit of 55 miles per hour to conserve gas. I’m here to tell you, it works.

 

Until recently I had set speeds I would drive in certain speed zones. In a 65 mph zone, I would drive 72. On the interstate (70 mph limit) I would drive 80 at a minimum. If a 55 zone, I would drive 60-65. In recent months, I decided to drive no more than 5 mph over the speed limit. During all of those times my gas mileage was pretty consistent. I averaged around 24 miles per gallon. I never got more than 25 mpg.

 

Lately I decided to try for my self this idea of better gas mileage at lower speeds. $3.60 per gallon gas will do that to a person. So last week I decided to drive no more that 60 mph. After a few miles on the interstate I deduced that 60 is a dangerous speed. So, I set my new maximum at 62. Wanna guess what happened?

 

Over two tanks of gas and almost 1000 miles, I averaged 27.9 miles per gallon. My miles per gallon increased over 15%. That, in turn, means my fuel consumption went down 15%.

 

I try to be a good steward of this planet. I want to leave it better than I found it. (I learned that from National Campgrounds.) But this has nothing to do with environmentalism. It’s about cash.

 

To quote The Pajama Game, “I figured it out I drive about 15,000 miles a year. At 24 miles per gallon that’s $2,187.50 per year in gas. At 28 miles per gallon? 1874.95. I’ll save over $300.00 a year by driving under 65.

 

I think it’s worth a few evil stares and rude gestures.

 

I didn’t mention the added savings. My health. I suffer from terrible road rage. Driving stresses me to no end. I gave up road rage for Lent last year. It helped, but it came back. Driving slower is much less stressful. I drove 500 miles Thursday and came home happy and content. Quite a change from a few weeks ago.