less wear on car, save gas, drive 55

 

Why a law?  Anybody who wants to can drive 55 on the interstate.  I
find it more relaxing and the time "wasted" isn't that much of a
factor, even on a long trip.  On a recent trip from NY to NC, I drove
down I81 to W.Va. and had no problems.  It was night so as I drove
down I95 I didn't have any problems.  On the return trip however, I
drove up I95 to the Washington-Baltimore beltways during the day.
After going through Richmond going north, I experienced people getting
annoyed at my slow speed.  I got a couple of honks, a few flip-offs,
but most important, I felt that my slow 55mph speed might have
actually been too dangerous in that high-speed, high-density traffic.

I figure that those drivers who are passing me left and right as I go
slow should be allowed to go as fast as they want.  They paid their
own hard earned money for their gas guzzlers and by god those hard-
working citizens should be able to drive as fast as they want.  ;->
WkWkNdgNdg  After all it’s their money they’re burning and as far as
I’m concerned they are hastening up depletion of the oil supply, and
not a minute too soon as far as I’m concerned, by god!

One thing you don't hear about as much is that driving 55 places less
wear on the car, especially small ones.  Next time I make that trip
I'm going to rent a car and then I can move my speed up closer to the
average speed others are driving.  I won't be wearing out my own car
that way.

Happy motoring - Bob

 

 You are spot on. I drive cars for years and love to see 200K and more
on the odometer. One of the things I do is drive 55. The easiest thing
to do is to get behind a large truck that is going about the right
speed. Trucks take longer to brake, so I reduce my chance of a rear
end collision. Also the trucks tend to cut through the wind resistance
and pull you along, further reducing the wear on your car. With the
truck in front, most drivers will not want to get between you and the
truck.

 When I was much younger (and even more stupidier) I drafted a semi
with my VW bug. I got real close to his bumper and drafted him for
nearly 300 miles. I hardly had my foot on the gas. I exited when he
did and refueled, and found I was getting in excess of 50 mpg. Getting
that close to a truck is dangerous, but a safe distance (1 car length
X 10 mph) can make a difference also.

 


I've heard about that but never tried it.  Don't you have to be pretty
close to the truck to be in the wake?

Ah yes.  Sounds like fun.  I think a VW bug is aerodynamically suited
for coasting in the wake of a semi.

I think a lot of people are driving 55 on the interstate but you don't
see them because they're going the same speed as you.  As you say,
it's always good to find a "blocker" to ride behind. - Bob

 

syr wrote:


<I SNIP from here>

  My experiece is that the wake behind larger trucks is somewhat
significant even about 1.5 seconds behind the truck, about 130 feet at
60 MPH.

  It is good to be behind a large truck by far enough to react to the
truck having an emergency such as a tire exploding or a retreaded tire
losing its tread, so that you can get around the bigger pieces of
shrapnel.

  In addition, it is not good to draft trucks that have exposed piles of
gravel or worse loads that they may inadvertently unload if they hit a
pothole.  I have known (from experience) dump trucks carrying gravel to
lose a bit of the gravel as they go along, with some of the gravel dinging
windshields of cars nearby behind.

  Also, I would not draft trucks having rear closure like that of most
U-Haul ones and lacking a padlock or other means to keep the closure from
opening.  I once rode a U-Haul truck without a padlock, and at the
destination the rear was open - with the load fortunately still in the
truck.

 - Don Klipstein (don@misty.com)

 

rcranger@syr.edu (bob syr) wrote:

I really hope they're only passing you on the left, because if you're
going 10-20mph under the speed limit, you should certainly be staying
in the right-most lane that will get you where you're going. :)

I would note that *some* highway systems do have legislated minimum
speeds - for example, the PA Turnpike (which you avoided) has a minimum
speed 15mph below the posted limit (067 PA Code 601.4).  I know I used to
see a lot of "Speed Limit 55" signs paired with "Minimum Speed 40" signs,
In the states you're driving through, there aren't any speed limits above
70 as far as I can recall, so 55mph should be _legally_ okay.

--
Screaming in Digital - http://scream.org/  - Queensryche fandom since 1991.