We drove today from Waverly, PA to Wilmington, NC, a distance of about 623 miles through Harrisburg west of Baltimore, around the western side of the DC beltway and down I-95, US 117, and I-40 to Wilmington. While it took us about eleven hours and was a little tiring, I noticed some things I think worth noting. For most of the trip on the Interstate highways, we drove at about sixty-two miles per hour. Our Toyota Tacoma truck with crew cab and long bed got between 23 and 24 miles per gallon for the trip. This is about two to three more mpg than we get driving 5 mph faster.
During the past couple of years, driving under seventy on the Interstate system has been scary. Trucks bear down on you from behind and smaller cars whip past at fifteen to twenty mph faster than we like to drive. Today, a Friday with lots of people heading for the beaches and mountains, traffic seemed lighter than it often does, and it moved more slowly. The right lane held pretty steady at around 62. The passing lane was perhaps six or eight mph faster, but it was the rare traveler who sped past at high speed. While the trip took perhaps an hour longer than it might have in the past, it seemed a little less pressured and more civil to me.
Gasoline prices in Virginia and Pennsylvania were a little lower than we expected. We filled up at a Love’s station at Pine Grove on I-81 north of Harrisburg for $3.85 a gallon and again at Love’s in Skippers, VA for $3.95, in both cases below the national average and somewhat below prevailing prices along the route. Stations were crowded, but cars moved in and out quickly. Drivers on the road did not appear to me to be as angry as they have during the past couple of months.
What all this suggests to me is that people are altering their behavior to make small savings in the cost of driving. There’s a possible aggregate benefit of such changes, should they be real rather than just my impression, will have a positive effect on the price of gasoline. My only fear is that a $.50 reduction in the price of gasoline might be just enough to bring more people back on the road and increase the speed at which they drove. Only time will tell.
MY driving behavior is changing, THAT'S for sure. I'm keeping my speeds down and coasting (putting in my clutch and letting gravity move my car) whenever it's safe to do so (I believe, Ted, that you live in my state, so you know about the hilly back roads). I've noticed, too, that I'm being smoked on the highway. I just stay to the right and let them go, and marvel at how much that speed is costing them.
ReplyDeleteI have seen driving behavior change here in Dallas. Personally I think we need to see crude reach the $200/barrel level to really see some significant behavior change.
ReplyDeleteYep, noticed it here in Tennessee as well. It seems like the fast lane is usually empty nowadays. We are taking a trip to Charleston, SC next weekend, I'm hoping for some of that more civil driving behavior on our way.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't appear that much has changed here in Detroit.
ReplyDeleteAs I drove a posted speed limits on local roads from my home to the Detroit Zoo three times a day each weekday last week; I noticed heavy traffic, and many cars flying by me like speeding bullets.
On a brief, 180 mile round trip to return our grandchildren to their parents, traffic on I-94 in southern Michigan was traveling at 70+. There were a few exceptions, some drivers were sticking to the right lane at speeds of 60-65, but they were few and far between.
The main difference we noticed is that few campers and motor homes populate the highways now.