Slow down and it will even be less stressful.

When I used to drive for a courier company I was speeding the first couple of weeks, but then I just slowed down and it was much less stressful.

__________________
If he ever had to eat his own words he'd die of malnutrition.
Colin P. Varga 1991

No.


That was an easy one. Next thread?

Is it blue? I have a similar commute, and I see the same blue striped Mustang all the time. Just wondering.

In the last two weeks, I've dropped my average mph pretty significantly in an effort to save on gas. Colin's right -- it has been less stressful, although I'm not going as slow as 55. I imagine that once you're down to that speed, you encounter the new stress of people constantly trying to get around you. I've been noticing a lot of people going 60-65, though.

Hmm, no it's red with a tint job. I do see a number of other S197 Mustang's (mostly 6-bangers though).

My start time at the office is 6:45am and I like to sleep as late as humanly possible... so it's tough to get up early only to mosey up I-95 at 60mph. 70-75 has been working well for me, it's a decent balance.

I hear ya. It's a pretty monotonous drive, especially that early. I start at 8:30, so there are times when I really can't be going any faster than 65!

So, comparing 70 to 55 ...

55 mph:
4.8 gallons @ $4/gallon = $19.20

70 mph:
6.5 gallons @ $4/gallon = $26

cost savings = $6.80
time difference = 26 minutes

$6.80/26 minutes = $.26min = $15.69/hour. That's more dramatic than ddlorenzo's earlier calculation on a similar experiment which yielded $7.80/hour.

The question is, how much is your time worth? The majority of us probably make more than that in salary. Therefore if I'm driving a company car where they cover gas costs directly, I'd save the company money by driving faster and wasting more gas, but getting where I'm going quicker and allowing more time to be productive at my destination.

However, 99% of the time for work travel I drive my personal car and then get paid a flat rate of $.48/mile (which in turn gets billed to our clients). I once did the math and, even when you take into account not only gas costs but also maintenance and depreciation costs, I actually make a small profit for each mile I drive for work. Slower speeds = greater profit. (Of course, I don't take that to extremes like drive side roads at 35 mph because that would be just milking things too much, and if I'm on a deadline that trumps everything.)

If you're not driving for work, the question becomes how much is your personal time worth? That's not an easy question to answer and it depends on a whole lot of factors, like how far you're driving, how urgent is your deadline, how full your bladder is and how far to the next rest stop, etc.

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Boom, boom, acka-lacka-lacka boom.
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No, it's not stressful. The people behind me are behind me and I have no control over them. I am able to concentrate me & my car and the road.

1996 Saturn w. 5sp. 49MPG HWY

__________________
If he ever had to eat his own words he'd die of malnutrition.
Colin P. Varga 1991