Hey Wayne! Your Mileage Ain't Worth My Life

Wayne Gerdes is king of the Hypermilers. What is a hypermiler? It is a driver who intentionally drives in illegal, stupid, and downright dangerous ways in the name of maximum miles per gallon.

In an article about Gerdes, Dennis Gaffney opens, in Mother Jones, with: “Drafting 18-wheelers with the engine off, taking death turns at 52 miles an hour, and other lessons learned while riding shotgun with the king of the hypermilers”
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/king_of_the_hypermilers.html

Is that enough to chill your blood?

On a racetrack, where all the drivers are skilled professionals, drafting is the cause of the big one. The most obvious place to see it is at NASCAR restrictor plate races.

When you and I do it, it is called tailgating. That, of course, is following so close you don’t have your full option set available if the vehicle you are following makes a sudden move. With a big truck, drivers can’t see ahead so breaking or sudden lane changes are always a surprise. Our hero, Wayne, further complicates matters by turning off his brakes. Yes, turning them off.

Even on the latest cars, when the power is off, power brakes go away quickly. You can test it for yourself, safely, in a big box store parking lot late at night. Make sure it’s late and empty. Many cars also lose steering.

It just gets better and better with this guy doesn’t it? He’s taking full cloverleaf, 270 degree, “death turns,” well above the speed limit with no brakes and likely no steering. Mea Culpa. I sometimes go that fast too. With the power on, great tires properly inflated*, and a car designed to do it. (The kid who sold me a BMW 5 series required me to say “designed to do it.”)

Should we keep going?

How about disrupting traffic flow? Many people beyond these hypermorons don’t realize how dangerous that is to not only themselves, but others too.

Do not take my word for it. See what the Arizona Department of Transportation (DOT) says about it:

Experience has shown that safety goes hand-in-hand with smooth traffic operation. Disrupting the smooth flow of traffic increases the probability of accidents.
Erratic traffic operation may be caused by vehicles stopping or slowing in the roadway, passing and weaving maneuvers, or surprise elements. For example, unwarranted traffic signals, unreasonably low speed limits, and too many signs may cause driver confusion and indecision.
Slower speed does not necessarily mean safer traffic operation. The chances of a driver becoming involved in an accident are least when he/she is traveling at the average speed of traffic.
http://www.dot.state.az.us/highways/Traffic/Trafeng.asp

You may not get out of a ticket with it but they’re telling you driving at 90 when traffic is averaging 80 – 85 mph is safer than driving at 55, especially when you take 20 minutes to get up to 55.

So read Gaffney’s article, visit some of the mileage sites he mentions. Remember, some of the stuff they’re going to tell you is not only stupid or illegal, it is dangerous to everybody on the road with you.

*Tire inflation is the most important thing most of us can do to save energy.
Too Low pressure requires more gas to roll and makes the car dangerous.
Too High pressure wears out the center of the tire – more energy because they don’t last as long – and causes loss of control due to reduced road contact.