Posted on 06/01/2008 5:18:05 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Wisconsin motorists appear to be driving slower than they were this time last year, and a State Patrol official says the $4-plus cost of gasoline seems to be a major reason.
And as speeds seem to have dropped, so have the number of traffic fatalities in the state - by 29% so far this year - while state troopers and sheriff's deputies are reporting that they are seeing fewer vehicles on the state's freeways.
While some of it is anecdotal, evidence is beginning to mount that gasoline prices are having a marked effect on the driving habits of many Wisconsin residents.
The state Department of Transportation has found that motorists on four-lane state highways and freeways have reduced their average speed by a little more than 1 mph over the last year.
That may not seem like much, but when taken across the estimated 60 billion miles driven each year in the state, it adds up. It's the first time in seven years that the speeds on freeways and major highways have dropped.
"The troopers see a general drop in overall speed," said Maj. Dan Lonsdorf, director of the State Patrol's Bureau of Transportation Safety. "People are driving slower partly because the price of gasoline is so much higher."
Traffic was moving at slightly less than 69 mph on average in late April and early May, authorities said. A year earlier, the average speed was just above 70 mph.
Even though it's only 1 mph, "we think that it is significant," Lonsdorf said. "When you hit something, even if you are going just a mile or two faster, the crash can be so much more violent and less survivable."
As of Friday, the number of traffic fatalities this year is down 82, or 29%, from last year.
"I think that a big chunk of the fatality reduction is that people are slowing down and traveling less," Lonsdorf said.
"Several troopers also said they have seen a noticeable drop in the number of people who are going very fast in the 90s and 100s," Lonsdorf added.
The average speed figures are based on readings measured at 150 automatic traffic recording stations throughout Wisconsin. Speed is measured by how long it takes a vehicle to pass between two points on a highway.
While evidence seems to point to drivers slowing on major highways and freeways, two-lane rural highways are an exception, Lonsdorf said. On those roads, traffic is moving about 1 mph faster to 59 from 58 mph last year, he said.
On Friday, the American Automobile Association said the average price for unleaded regular gasoline was $4.08 per gallon in metropolitan Milwaukee, and the statewide average was $4.
Slowing down unquestionably saves fuel. The AAA says for every 5 mph faster that people drive over 60 mph, it is like paying an additional 20 cents per gallon of gasoline.
Consumer Reports magazine recently tested a 2007 Toyota Camry equipped with a four-cylinder engine and an automatic transmission. The Camry got 40 miles per gallon when driven at 55 mph on a Connecticut highway, 35 miles per gallon at 65 mph and 30 miles per gallon at 75 mph.
"So clearly you are saving gas when you are driving slower on the highway," said Gabe Shenhar, the magazine's senior auto test engineer.
While slowing down saves fuel, so does staying home.
Waukesha County Sheriff Daniel J. Trawicki said that during the Memorial Day weekend "deputies definitely saw a decrease in the amount of vehicles on the roadway" compared with previous holidays. "They saw it particularly on I-43 and I-94."
Not all law enforcement officials credited soaring gasoline prices for slowing traffic.
"Changing driving behavior is a very difficult thing to do," Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. said. "I don't think that the price of gas has done that because it's only about a year since it (the price) has spiked."
In Milwaukee County, he said, the slowdown has occurred because his department has more deputies patrolling freeway sites that have had many accidents and high rates of speeding. He called this the department's saturation effort.
The number of crashes on Milwaukee County freeways also has diminished 31% this year.
"You don't get a 31% decline in crashes for the first four months just by chance," Clarke said.
He also said increased congestion on Milwaukee freeways has reduced freeway speeds.
I got a ‘76 C20 with a 454. I think it takes a gallon just to start it.
uhhh....so motorists are driving a little slower because of the high gas prices, thinking they will use less gas by going ten miles from Point A to Point B, and doing it slower? Of course you use the same amount of gas going 40 MPH as you do going 50 MPH. At 50 MPH you just get there faster. Yikes.
There are more sheeple, I’ve observed, taking the underutilized public transportation. Where were they before? Oh, whining that they can’t (take public transportation), wishing that other would (take public transportation), ranting against it on FR, calling it Socialism, Communism, tyranny.
Mythbusters did a segment on windows down vs AC,you actually get better mileage with the windows up and the AC on. There is less wind resistance.
“Mythbusters did a segment on windows down vs AC,you actually get better mileage with the windows up and the AC on. There is less wind resistance.”
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Turn off your lights! All car headlights are designed, specifically to act directly against your forward progress, all those photons zooming out at the speed of light.
I’m series.
A Prius (2004 hatchback version).
$4 per gallon hasn’t slowed the morons down in my area. Still driving around like there is no tomorrow. Speeding, tailgaiting, running red lights and making 6 trips to town in one day instead of consolidating trips. Like some people have a bottomless money pit.
That gives me a brilliant idea!
If I put a dozen Xenon high beam headlights on the back of Suburban, I can increase my MPG with the extra thrust...
Plus keep the tailgaters back a good distance...
That’s the case with highway driving, but not with stop-n-go.
Getting a heavy truck off the line with the A/C on when the light goes green is gas-intensive.
Let the gas price get to something like $6-7 a gallon where no one can afford to drive and the incidents will really go down.
I like photons on my salad.
I've been researching economical vehicles just in case it becomes a necessity to have one, and have found that the Honda Fit gets lower highway mpg (34) than the Civic (36), and the Civic has higher mpg with an automatic than with a manual. Many of the small, five door hatchbacks are not rated very high on mpg, for example the Mazda 3, at 29 highway, is the same as a V-6 Chevy Impala. GM did some engineering work on the engine in the Chevy Cobalt, and got it up to 36 highway, but reports are that it is noisy and the body integrity isn't so great. Toyota actually seems to have lost an mpg or two with the new Corolla. The Yaris is just too small. So, if I feel the need to do it, I'll be getting a Civic automatic, LX model (DX too much of a stripper, EX too pricey).
Of COURSE the game is rigged - and so is the reporting!
They’re hoping that nobody will remember that the big drop in fatalities during the “Arab Oil Embargo” of the ‘70s was traced to a huge drop in total miles traveled - i.e., reduced exposure to hazard - NOT to reduced speeds!
I’m sure that’s exactly what’s happening today.
Forgive me. I didn’t catch the mention in the article that the number of fatalities was adjusted for the reduced number of miles being driven due to the increased gas prices.
Not only that, but it reduces the time you are exposed to the idiots who might run into you; and meteorites, loose highway signs, etc. that might fall on you.
I see you like to eat light.
My GTO gets 24mpg at 80mph, 25 at 70mph and 26 at 65mph.
I'm one of those full-time telecommuters so when I hit the road I need to make up for lost time ;)
Yep, high fuel prices are causing Gore to stop flying to global warming meets in his private jet and fly commercial coach instead.
Oh wait.
He's making this up. No one can quantify the additional injuries caused by a mph difference or two in any given crash.
Dozens of large SUVs passed me doing at least 80. Apparently, they have no objection to throwing a $10 bill out the window every 40 miles.
I experienced the same thing...drivers were travelling at the same speed as in the past, but there were fewer cars on the road.
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