"Hypermiler" pulled over for driving too slow

[greenitup]

the problem stems from the fact that people are driving too fast. If the speed limit is 65 then you are supposed to travel around 60 so you have a buffer. People going 5-10 mph under the speed limit aren't causing the problems, it is the ones that go 80+ that cause the problem.
I travel at 50-55 on the highway when im alone.

[markw365]

Originally Posted by dcb

So you can improve on the 41.9 MPG with this technique then? Or are you just going faster and breaking harder when you miss the stoplight or hit the turn?

edit: I don't think "lifted muscle wagon" guy flying up behind someone and stomping on the brakes and horn smacks of hypermiler

I dunno, I just carry way more corner speed than the average person. You'd be surprised at how fast an average car can go through a corner. The road he's talking about is a 50mph road, he's doing 27mph, when you turn onto it from Hwy 67, it's a slight uphill, then about a 3 mile 8% downhill grade. If I time it right and don't have traffic in front of me, I may slow to 45ish for the right turn at the bottom. My car is a 91 Civic Si that I've done the suspension on, with a stock (gas guzzling D16A6). It only knocks down mid 30's, but I have seen a low of 12mpg for 1 tank, and a high of 45mpg on a road trip. By him doing 27mph at the crest before the long downhill, he kills any momentum of drivers behind him that are going faster, so I say carry more cornerspeed, then you're only down to 40-45 at the crest. I could carry 50mph on that corner in my Minivan.

[markw365]

Originally Posted by greenitup

the problem stems from the fact that people are driving too fast. If the speed limit is 65 then you are supposed to travel around 60 so you have a buffer. People going 5-10 mph under the speed limit aren't causing the problems, it is the ones that go 80+ that cause the problem.
I travel at 50-55 on the highway when im alone.

That's fine, but you need to do it in the right lane. The story didn't say what lane the guy was in, but if you're trying to hypermile and are doing 50mph in the left lane of a 65mph road, you're a hazard to other traffic around you. It's not that people are driving too fast, it's the difference in speed. If they want to drive faster and waste more fuel, that's their prerogative, just don't hang out in the left lane with the mentality, that "I'm under the speed limit so screw them, I have every right to be in this lane." In most states you don't as the left lane is for overtaking. So if you're trying to save fuel by driving slower, by every right, do it, but don't do it in an unsafe way.

[dann_04]

I live in illinois, and as far as i understand the speed limit is the limit of how fast you can go. Unless there is a posted minimum speed, there is none. On the highway the max is 65 and the min is 45. I can understand the safety issue, but if there's three lanes i will do whatever i want between 45-65mph in the right lane. The people who are being unsafe are the ones doing 10 over the limit and expecting everyone else to do it to just because they are. Last i checked i wouldn't jump off a bridge just because everyone else was doing it and telling me it was safer than not doing it. lol. Any way that's my 2 cents. But that's just what we need, cops pulling us over and giving us slowing tickets lol.

[atomicradish]

I routinely go 55 in a 70, and 50-55 in a 65 on I-40. Sometimes cars come up on my quickly but not too often.

70 MPH speed limits do not have gas mileage taken into account at all. When I drive 70 vs. 55, I save about 8 to 9 MPG in my car. If the state wants me to drive 70, they'd better be prepared to reimburse me for the gas, because I'm not going to speed up.

[dremd]

just got stoped for the second time for not "doing at least 70" in a 70. this time as soon as the radar detector went off i sped up from 61~62 up to 65. trooper specifically told me 2 times that "when on louisiana interstates the speed limit is the minimum speed". i think this warrants an investigation of the law.

[atomicradish]

Originally Posted by dremd

just got stoped for the second time for not "doing at least 70" in a 70. this time as soon as the radar detector went off i sped up from 61~62 up to 65. trooper specifically told me 2 times that "when on louisiana interstates the speed limit is the minimum speed". i think this warrants an investigation of the law.

I don't see how that can hold up in court. According to the almighty Wikipedia:

"A road speed limit is the maximum speed as allowed by law for road vehicles. Speed limits are commonly set and enforced by the legislative bodies of nations or provincial governments, such as countries within the world."

What's worse is that him pulling you over lowered your FE for the tank! That's acceleration you didn't need to do.

[markw365]

Originally Posted by dann_04

I live in illinois, and as far as i understand the speed limit is the limit of how fast you can go. Unless there is a posted minimum speed, there is none. On the highway the max is 65 and the min is 45. I can understand the safety issue, but if there's three lanes i will do whatever i want between 45-65mph in the right lane. The people who are being unsafe are the ones doing 10 over the limit and expecting everyone else to do it to just because they are. Last i checked i wouldn't jump off a bridge just because everyone else was doing it and telling me it was safer than not doing it. lol. Any way that's my 2 cents. But that's just what we need, cops pulling us over and giving us slowing tickets lol.

Yup, I tend to go slow in the right lane and pass in the left. What's irking me right now is trying to maintain corner speed when the guy in front of you slows to 5mph to make a turn. The only guy I know to get a ticket for going slow got it in Chicago on the 94. He was doing 55 in the left lane. "Impeding the flow of traffic" was what it was for. He was fuming, but then he had the mentality of "I should be able to do 55-60 in the left lane, and people can just go around me.". What that does is create a dangerous situation where your trying to get over to the right to exit and people are trying to pass you. I really don't care what speed people drive, but if your going to conserve fuel by going slower, do it in the right lane that way you're not interfering with the guys who want to pay more to go fast. If you get pulled over and you're in the right lane, then fight it, but if they pull you over like the guy I used to work with for doing 55 in the left lane on a multi lane road, then suck it up and pay it, and next time stay to the right.

[Formula413]

Originally Posted by dremd

just got stoped for the second time for not "doing at least 70" in a 70. this time as soon as the radar detector went off i sped up from 61~62 up to 65. trooper specifically told me 2 times that "when on louisiana interstates the speed limit is the minimum speed". i think this warrants an investigation of the law.

Unreal. That sounds like something an uninformed moron would say. Or on this case a uniformed moron. How could a member of law enforcement of all people make such a preposterous statement?

[markw365]

Originally Posted by dremd

just got stoped for the second time for not "doing at least 70" in a 70. this time as soon as the radar detector went off i sped up from 61~62 up to 65. trooper specifically told me 2 times that "when on louisiana interstates the speed limit is the minimum speed". i think this warrants an investigation of the law.

What lane were you in, was it a multi-lane road? Were you in the left lane??