I Can Drive 55

During my seven semesters at Vassar College, I made many trips to New York City. I often went into Manhattan to do my laundry. I visited my parents and brother or had a fun weekend in the big city. Occasionally I drove a friend or two to Yankee Stadium. My reasons for traveling varied, but one thing was consistent: I drove fast. I knew that highway 87 was wider and safer (in those days, the Taconic Parkway was mostly two lanes), but 87 was a haven for ticket-writing police whereas the Taconic was just a haven for speeders. In all of my trips to and fro, I never got a ticket, but I always sped. My fastest trip door-to-door was 65 minutes for the 78-mile journey. Oh, and back then, the speed limit was 55mph.

Speed was a hallmark of my driving for the next 18 years. Time slows down for objects the faster they travel, and I probably added at least a nanosecond to my lifespan. But then four things happened that changed that forever:

1) I moved to the calm and bucolic climes of New Paltz,
2) I turned 40 and got that much closer to actual adulthood,
3) Gas prices passed $2/gal (and then $3/gal), and
4) I started driving my Pontiac Aztek much more often.



Factor 4 was probably the most instrumental; the Aztek has a lot of cool gizmos, including control-panel readouts of one's instant- and overall-fuel economies.

I did a little experiment last month: I drove for three flat miles at different speeds to see how efficiently the car drove. At 75mph, I got about 22mpg. At 70 and 65mph, I did a bit better. By 60mph, the mileage was amazing: over 31mpg. That means that by maintaining a rate of speed 5 miles per hour below the speed limit, I can use my gas 30% more efficiently. Another gauge on the Aztek monitors how much gas has been used on a trip. By driving slowly, I have made the 85-mile trip to Manhattan while using only 2.7 gallons of gas. Another way of looking at it is that if a tank of gas costs $40, driving 30% more efficiently is like getting the gas for $28 instead. Or: If a gallon costs the average motorist $2.50, I'm getting it for the equivalent of $1.75. Take that, ExxonMobilCitgoShell!

Life begins at 40, but thrift begins at 60.