Top 3 Most Unsafe Hypermiling Tips - Avoid Unless Extremely Advanced
Cruising through stop signs. Rolling through stop signs will help you save gas because you won’t need to use as much energy (read: fuel) to get back up to whatever speed you’re supposed to be traveling. In the end, this probably won’t save you too much gas, and could end up costing you a lot of money.
Blowing through stop signs is a bad idea for a couple reasons. First and foremost, it’s against the law, and if you get caught you can expect to get a nice fine and probably a hike in your insurance premiums - which will, without a doubt, more than negate any money you save on gas. Second, it’s dangerous. By running stop signs you’re increasing the chance of hitting a pedestrian and getting into an accident.
Recommendation: No matter how desperate you are to increase your fuel economy, I think it’s safe to say that running through stop signs isn’t something you should be doing.
Tailgating large trucks (think 18 wheelers). Here’s another dangerous idea that should always be avoided. When you’re tailgating or “drafting” behind a large vehicle, you’ll increase your car’s fuel economy because you won’t have to overcome as much air resistance; in turn, you’ll use less fuel.
When traveling closely behind an 18 wheeler, you are putting yourself in the driver’s blind spot, meaning he or she can’t see you and probably don’t even know you’re behind them. Obviously, part of being a safe driver is knowing where all the other vehicles around you are so that you can plan and act accordingly.
Also, the closer you drive to any vehicle, the less reaction time you have if something were to go wrong. If you’re only a couple of feet away from a big rig’s bumper you’re not going to be able to avoid an accident should the truck need to attempt to come to an abrupt stop.
Recommendation: Travel a safe distance behind all vehicles (remember the three second rule?) and travel the speed limit, especially on the highway.
Shutting off your car while it’s still moving. This tip will help increase fuel economy because, as expected, if your car’s engine is off, it’s not using any gas. This tip is often used while a car is traveling down hill, so that it can use not only the energy generated while the car was on, but energy generated from gravity as well.
It should be fairly obvious that this is an absolutely terrible idea. If your car is off and you’re still in motion, the chances of something bad happening are increased exponentially. You won’t have the ability to quickly accelerate to get out of a tight spot; you’ll lose power steering, making it more difficult to turn the vehicle; and chances are if you turn the steering wheel too far, you’ll end up locking it in place.
While it’s tough to pick the worst extreme hypermiling tip, this one should certainly be in consideration.
Recommendation: When going down hills simply let off the accelerator and let gravity do its job. Also consider putting your car in neutral.
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