Count of actual accidents caused by ecomodding, eco-driving or hypermiling

[rmay635703]

My yellow electric car has almost caused accidents by drivers on the other side of the road. A few have stared at me not paying attention to what the car in front of them was doing and I have just about caused rearenders because of the stareing factor (not directly)
I also have had a few people make U-turns to follow me. Lately that hasn't happened as much since most folks are getting used to seeing me drive all over creation. I have never had a close call getting hit though in the car, but my car does cause inattentiveness by others who are gauking.

I do tend to speed pretty bad in my electric though, I only drive slower with gassers and diesels. I really don't hypermile though as I don't employ all of the techniques and I certainly don't do it all the time due to traffic & circumstance. I at least try though, unlike many of the bafoons on the road. I guess 60mpg in a 4sp diesel jetta isn't all that bad but I had to drive REAL slow to get there, I usually do it on almost vacant 4 lane highway on my way up to the UP.

And I am lucky enough to say, I have never had an accident except for two sub 5mph ones at lights when I was driving an old 1982 suburban and was slip sliding on the light rain greased leaves. Never happened again (nor did I do any damage anyway) But those accidents weren't do to hypermiling anyway. I also figure I am one of the few that probably drove better when I was 16 than I do now, I learned and took my tests on glare ice in the winter. So for years I was EXTREMELY overcompensating but I never had close calls or rearenders because of it.

I also think most of the safety nuts are really wolfs in sheeps clothes trying to cause distractions to continue the status quo. I have seen various individuals pop out of no where spreading mis information when I bring up electric alternatives on other forums (trolls with no previous posts, saying they are automotive engineers and how terrible it all would be)

Strange that I never meet anyone like this in person, except for one gas station that doesn't like me buying banannas there with a gas card I rarely use to get my 1-2 cent discount. I shouldn't have the card I'm told unless I buy gas.

Ah well

[gascort]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

Strange that I never meet anyone like this in person, except for one gas station that doesn't like me buying banannas there with a gas card I rarely use to get my 1-2 cent discount. I shouldn't have the card I'm told unless I buy gas. Ah well

That's hilarious. Nice car, by the way. I saw a car that looked quite a lot like yours a few years ago here in MO - the guy said it was from 1977 or something and he then zipped away. I really liked it.
I'd like to do an electric conversion of a small, light car if I had the extra cash and someone experienced to help.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by gascort

That's hilarious. Nice car, by the way. I saw a car that looked quite a lot like yours a few years ago here in MO - the guy said it was from 1977 or something and he then zipped away. I really liked it.
I'd like to do an electric conversion of a small, light car if I had the extra cash and someone experienced to help.

Thanx, most everyone likes the car, though some seem irritated if they start thinking about owning one, not sure why.

Before doing a conversion remember that although simple they are time consuming. Follow the kiss principle and don't try to do more than you absolutely need and you should do fine.

Something else I've found (not always true) is that a converted or mostly converted vehicle can many times be picked up for half or less its real value, those are the easiest to get into because you don't need to do all the work and just me speaking if I were to take one on I would be more likely to finish one thats already there or mostly there.

[Bigs]

Originally Posted by NoCO2

in general, ecomodders/hypermilers are not the ones that are causing the problems/accidents. It's the impatient people that do stupid/irresponsible/irrational/immature things in reaction to someone doing say...o, the SPEED LIMIT

Couldn't of said it better myself!

Never seen any close calls for me or the wife! Although some people do get irate at us but who cares! Where I live, 99% of people drive like they stole it. No wonder gas is in demand!

[greenitup]

It has made my driving safer because i am always paying attention to amount of exertion on pedal, speed, shifting, etc. I dont doze of as much (music distracts easily)

but i think it has made other drivers less safe, they don't see hills the same (It is free mileage) and they don't see hills the same, they use alot of gas on the hills, me i accelerate slightly before it and slow while going up (they mess up because they accelerate with me and get pissed off with my slowing down)
I also get passed all the time (i drive 40 mph now in a 45 which doesnt sound bad but the real speed of that road is around 60-65 and that is just the ordinary speed many travel faster.

[gascort]

I had a bunny run out in front of me last night while EOC'ing. I was doing 25 mph in my neighborhood on a narrow, one-way street. The rabbit came out between two cars about exactly one car-length in front of my car.

**Suspense**



Oh, of course, the rabbit is fine - I hammered the brakes and locked up all 4 tires (no abs). So much for the sensationalist "no power brakes = death!!!" I'm not sure if my grill block hit the bunny or not, but it ended up running forward in front of my car in the end.
Low grill block + nosedive due to braking = small pet cattleguard!!

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by garys_1k

Hmm, I wonder if a post here could be subpoenaed in the case of a criminal or civil trial. Someone admitting driving "unusually" could leave themselves very wide open to much doo-doo.

Oh, whatever. What are they going to do? Take away my driver's license so I can't drive a car anymore?

The only thing I can think of was when I took a trip to Edmonton Alberta and was EOC'ing down the steep river valley there with lots of turns. My Geo didn't have power steering to begin with, so that wasn't a problem, but I was startled when my brake assist ran out before finished going down the hill. It was late at night with no one in sight, so it was better it happened then and not some other place/time (coming from Saskatchewan, it's not too often that I need to use the brakes down a hill ).

But that's all I can think of.

[garys_1k]

Originally Posted by Peakster

Oh, whatever. What are they going to do? Take away my driver's license so I can't drive a car anymore?

If someone was hyperdriving and involved in a fatality accident, what was posted by that person here could be used against them. Could involve some big money, maybe jail if it could be shown that negligence was involved. It's just the cautionary person in me that wants to warn people not to get too specific, that's all.

[Peakster]

Oh, I see what you mean. Good point.

[elhigh]

I have a few other cars climbing up my tailpipe when I'm rolling at sub-limit speeds, but nothing too bad. On my best days I'll have a super-long EOC glide of about two miles at speeds approaching 65mph; I never feel like the car is difficult to control. At that speed, turning effort is pretty low and all the traffic is rolling more or less straight, and I usually wind up opening all gaps between me and traffic ahead, so braking is a non-issue.

No accidents and very little if any perceived increase of risk due to hypermiling practices. Increased vigilance for hypermiling opportunity makes me more aware as a driver now than I was when I was just another traffic drone.