Grrrr Gas Vent!!

[rockundergirl]

I recently went from having a 5 min drive to work to having a 35 min drive to work. I have to take a long highway with traffic lights every 2 miles or so. I never knew how dumb people are about gas mileage till I started making this drive. I thought it was common knowledge that speeding up and stopping short kill your gas mileage? Maybe its just they don't care because they have so much extra money to spend at the pump? Its very odd to me the way cars slam the gas when the light turns green , when you can clearly see that the next light is still red. So they speed up to 60, only to have to slam on thr breaks to come to a full stop a moment later. I try to accelerate slowly so that by the time I reach the next light it has changed to green and I pick up the pattern of hitting the green lights, but I get crazy honking and the finger when I attempt this so I'm forced to go with the insane traffic flow. Now I average 25 mpg and not 34 like I normally do! Thats almost 100 less miles per tank! and 100's of extra dollars a year. thanks for letting me vent!
Maybe this is just a New Jersey thing?

 

[GoofyBaby]

I recently went from having a 5 min drive to work to having a 35 min drive to work. I have to take a long highway with traffic lights every 2 miles or so. I never knew how dumb people are about gas mileage till I started making this drive. I thought it was common knowledge that speeding up and stopping short kill your gas mileage? Maybe its just they don't care because they have so much extra money to spend at the pump? Its very odd to me the way cars slam the gas when the light turns green , when you can clearly see that the next light is still red. So they speed up to 60, only to have to slam on thr breaks to come to a full stop a moment later. I try to accelerate slowly so that by the time I reach the next light it has changed to green and I pick up the pattern of hitting the green lights, but I get crazy honking and the finger when I attempt this so I'm forced to go with the insane traffic flow. Now I average 25 mpg and not 34 like I normally do! Thats almost 100 less miles per tank! and 100's of extra dollars a year. thanks for letting me vent!
Maybe this is just a New Jersey thing?

Not sure if it is just a Jersey thing or not, but I sure do understand your frustration! I would continue to accelerate gently as you are used to. I used to be intimidated by nasty drivers, but not anymore. I drive a 16 year old car and I am not going to put the pedal to the floor at a green light. I am going to treat my car with care. If people choose to be rude, that's on them and I no longer let them bother me. Don't let them intimidate you into losing gas mileage! Hugs to you and sorry that people can just be plain nasty sometimes.

 

[angierae]

I recently went from having a 5 min drive to work to having a 35 min drive to work. I have to take a long highway with traffic lights every 2 miles or so. I never knew how dumb people are about gas mileage till I started making this drive. I thought it was common knowledge that speeding up and stopping short kill your gas mileage? Maybe its just they don't care because they have so much extra money to spend at the pump? Its very odd to me the way cars slam the gas when the light turns green , when you can clearly see that the next light is still red. So they speed up to 60, only to have to slam on thr breaks to come to a full stop a moment later. I try to accelerate slowly so that by the time I reach the next light it has changed to green and I pick up the pattern of hitting the green lights, but I get crazy honking and the finger when I attempt this so I'm forced to go with the insane traffic flow. Now I average 25 mpg and not 34 like I normally do! Thats almost 100 less miles per tank! and 100's of extra dollars a year. thanks for letting me vent!
Maybe this is just a New Jersey thing?

I hear you. It drives me crazy when a car will tailgate me, zoom around me, and then get caught at the next light ... just like me. Well, I hope you enjoyed hurrying up there to the light to sit there.

 

[Maddies Mama]

I live in MS and I get this just driving my daughter to school. It's not highways that I'm on by any means, but there are a lot of stoplights and it's about a 15-minute drive one-way. I admit, I did used to be one of those crazy drivers during rush hour when we were a dual-income, child-free family with money to burn, but now we're a one-income, one-child family and I like to save my pennies wherever I can. I try to stay out of their way as best I can and just hope they don't hit me with their crazy driving!

 

[Donnainnj]

I recently went from having a 5 min drive to work to having a 35 min drive to work. I have to take a long highway with traffic lights every 2 miles or so. I never knew how dumb people are about gas mileage till I started making this drive. I thought it was common knowledge that speeding up and stopping short kill your gas mileage? Maybe its just they don't care because they have so much extra money to spend at the pump? Its very odd to me the way cars slam the gas when the light turns green , when you can clearly see that the next light is still red. So they speed up to 60, only to have to slam on thr breaks to come to a full stop a moment later. I try to accelerate slowly so that by the time I reach the next light it has changed to green and I pick up the pattern of hitting the green lights, but I get crazy honking and the finger when I attempt this so I'm forced to go with the insane traffic flow. Now I average 25 mpg and not 34 like I normally do! Thats almost 100 less miles per tank! and 100's of extra dollars a year. thanks for letting me vent!
Maybe this is just a New Jersey thing?

Well I am one of those people who tend to accelerate quickly, I started driving when gas was cheap. My DH is always getting annoyed with me for it. I don't do it when there is a red light ahead unless I know the pattern and it will turn green before I am there. I think part of it is for my area the lights work better for someone who does this. If you don't you get a red light over and over again. On the other hand, I would never give you the finger for your driving or blow my horn at you. I think the only time I have used my horn in the last 5 years were the two times someone was backing up into me in a parking lot. One thanked me.
Donna
forgot to add, while reading this I quickly looked to see if you were in Jersey...

 

[rockundergirl]

Well I am one of those people who tend to accelerate quickly, I started driving when gas was cheap. My DH is always getting annoyed with me for it. I don't do it when there is a red light ahead unless I know the pattern and it will turn green before I am there. I think part of it is for my area the lights work better for someone who does this. If you don't you get a red light over and over again. On the other hand, I would never give you the finger for your driving or blow my horn at you. I think the only time I have used my horn in the last 5 years were the two times someone was backing up into me in a parking lot. One thanked me.
Donna
forgot to add, while reading this I quickly looked to see if you were in Jersey...

Donna , was that you zooming by giving me the bird this morning!

 

[cbg1027]

I hear you. It drives me crazy when a car will tailgate me, zoom around me, and then get caught at the next light ... just like me. Well, I hope you enjoyed hurrying up there to the light to sit there.

Not just a Jersey thing at all. It's an all over thing. And it bugs me too. My car is 18, I'm not going to push it too hard, especially when I will get caught at the next light and not get where I'm going any faster. Accelerating fast and stopping suddenly is only going to make the trip more expensive, not to mention less safe.

 

[Janepod]

Let me guess, you are on Rt. 1 between New Brunswick and Princeton?

It's not just a Jersey thing but that road is probably the worst example of it in the country.

 

[rockundergirl]

Let me guess, you are on Rt. 1 between New Brunswick and Princeton?

It's not just a Jersey thing but that road is probably the worst example of it in the country.

CLose... Its route 9 between freehold and new brunswick. and its hell.

 

[Donnainnj]

My regular stomping grounds are more 35 and 36 for roads with lights this often, so it wasn't me.
Donna

 

[carone0318]

Just happy to hear it wasn't Rte 70 at around 6:15am... just sayin'

 

[seashoreCM]

But is there a pattern for green lights?

In many areas there is no pattern in which case on average you spend the same amount of time waiting at red lights no matter how slowly you drive.

 

[Taja]

New Jersey doesn't have a lock on the bad drivers! Most of the drivers in Arizona are just as bad! *LOL*

Many of the major intersection traffic signals are timed in the cities, but there are those pesky little pedestrian and vehicle signals at less-traveled cross streets that throw everything off. I understand the need for them, but they can make life frustrating!

 

[bumbershoot]

Maybe this is just a New Jersey thing?

It's a *my brother* thing, too, and he's in CA. He's a good, defensive driver, but the speed/stop fast thing makes me crazy.

They have a mid-90s Durango for guests, and they put Premium gas in it. My kind wonderful sweet sister in law filled it up for me before DS and I headed 1.5 hours away to Disneyland. When we got home, my brother went to park it (he parks it backwards in their garage and I don't want to hit sis in law's fancy car with it) and came in all confused. Did you put more gas in it, he asked.

Nope, I just drove it calmly and peacefully, and it only took just over half of a tank to get to the highway, up the highway, to DLR, and back, instead of MORE than a full tank like he uses for the same drive!

He's almost never wrong about things, and his mind was absolutely blown by the difference in gas usage with different driving styles.

 

[mrodgers]

I use to drive from about an hour north into rush hour traffic in Pittsburgh for work in the mornings. I laugh at everyone who uses rush hour traffic as a reasoning on why an automatic transmission is nicer than a manual transmission. Everyone around me lurching forwards, then slamming the brakes on every 20 feet or so in stop and go traffic while I simply slipped off the clutch in 1st gear and just let the car idle along. I can't seem to understand how moving your foot from gas to brake to gas to brake constantly for an hour is easier than just letting the car be pulled along at idle speed and never having to touch either gas or brake. If traffic is moving faster than that, move to 2nd gear. I can get a car going about 30 mph without ever touching the gas pedal.

 

[kacaju]

Let me guess, you are on Rt. 1 between New Brunswick and Princeton?

It's not just a Jersey thing but that road is probably the worst example of it in the country.

LOL!!! Be careful around the intersection of Rt 1 and 130...I got a ticket and the North Brunswick police made me appear in court too...what a pain