over the weekend i was driving to a friend's house (only 1/2 gallon away), and thinking a lot about my driving habits. i live in the country, and on most the speed limit is 55, but i hardly drive that any more. if you think about it, limit means the top, the fastest you can drive (theoretically) on a given road. there is no law saying a person HAS to drive that fast......

i left a major metropolitan area almost 10 years ago, and one reason was because i wanted to slow down and get out of the insanity. now, except when i need to be some place at a certain time, i feel no need to go particularly fast. if i can improve my FE and enjoy the scenery at the same time, so much the better. i enjoy where i live, i am not in the rat race, i will leave that to the rats.

nothing much to say here, except rambling about the lack of a need for speed.

 

Well said, and congrats on your peace.....

Agreed entirely. More people need to take a look at their driving habits and decide if racing from red light to red light and driving at speeds "not required for safe timely arrival" is really a benefit to them in ANY way.

I live in Metro Phoenix, and I rarely if ever get on the freeways. Even if I have a 20 mile drive to a distant suburb, I use the city streets so I can max out my FE by cruising 35-50 MPH and keeping out of people's way as best I can.

Buying the hybrid changed my habits, and although I was not a speed demon before, I really plan well and leave early enough to drive with FE in mind a lot more effectively now.

 

-I agree whole heartedly with both of you. I live near Los Angeles and commute to Ventura (roughly) and watch almost daily as speeders risk their own lives, and more importantly the lives of others. Unfortunately they usually find out too late that excessive speed is the cause of 2/3 of accidents on highways.

-At some point in the future I'll be leaving the city for hopefully a horse property off the beaten path.

 

note my avatar....he lives in my pasture

 

I speed. I love it. I race motorcycles. I love that, too. Speed is a way of life.



But, I also like to cruise around. Usually, I'm only going about 5-10 mph over the posted limit.

 

I used to be a horribly aggressive Left lane speeder until I bought my HCH.

My, how things can change.
Now I enjoy the ride with its relaxing "Quiet time".
I know many here like audio books, which I have yet to try but instead have been listening to 1930's - 40's Radio broadcact recordings.

Lately it's "The Shadow of Foo Man Choo"- Very addicting series.

Laurie- About country living-

We moved from a far Northern suburb of Atlanta to a much further one, everyone calls it the boon docks. My wife was a little hesitant at first to be far away from her neighbor friends and shopping malls.

At the time we bought a ~2,500sq ft new home on an acre of land for about $145K, while a comparable home went for about $230K on 1/2 acre in the city we had left.

A good family friend a year later bought a new home in a condo-like community, packed on 1/4 acre lots spaced 20 feet apart with 10 feet of yard for about $300K. While their house faceod looks a bit nicer than ours the home is smaller.
But then I guess people like different things.

We've been there for about 6 years and wouldn't have it any other way.
In fact my wife suggests moving further out next time....but I'm not sure about that.

Nice thread by the way.

 

Hmm...if you go 44 in a 55mph zone in my state and there is a lot of traffic, you will get a ticket just as fast as if you were going 66 in that same 55mph zone. So within limits I agree with you.

I visited my grandparents twice last week (45 miles one way) and was going about 60MPH in a 65MPH zone and was actually passing several big SUV's. I guess they figured out that slower speeds = better FE

 

thanks. we moved in 2001 from a town of about 5000, where i landed after i left minneapolis, to 26 acres with a 115 year old farm house, an 80 year old barn, and our nearest neighbors are farmers. our cable company went under, so we have no tv, which is fine. we actually have 2 horses, 6 cats, 2 dogs, 14 geese, 2 dozen ducks and too many chickens to even count. after having been a suburbanite most of my life, i learned to drive a tractor pulling a baler, we put up our own hay and fenced our pasture. i learned to candle eggs and hatch chickens & ducks in the kitchen. we get our milk from the dairy farm down the road. i drive 40 miles one way to work, but it's 4 lane all the way (after the 2 miles of gravel road to get to it), and takes me less time than some people drive in mpls. also, i don't drive way below the limit on that road, usually just 60, limit is 65. the real slowing down i talked about was on the country roads around where we live.......

 

As I read this I couldn't help but laugh. I scream everyday (in my head, don't want to be shot with FL's new gun law ) at people who speed past me. Normally what I'm saying is, "Don't you people know what LIMIT means?"

That being said, I think I am much like Hot_Georgia. I used to be the guy speeding, about the only thing I was against was constant lane changing. Still, doing 20mph+ over the posted milit was nothing. My how times have changed.

The latest is moving "out". Way out into the woods. Even onto a dirt road it's so far out. I suspect it may not be dirt forever as everyone else is heading out that way too. I got lucky though as property in the area has taken a 300% spike in the last year. Can't wait to finally get moved out there and away from it all around here. The things that'll be hard to get used to is planning shopping and things like that. No more running to the store to grab something quick.

 

I can certainly vouch for the country life. I don't do anything with my 6.5 acres, but I like the fact that it forces some distance between myself and the neighbours. I have pondered moving in closer in the effort to reduce the maintenance demands on the property, which I never seem to have enough time for. However, I can't help but feel hemmed in when I look at one of those shiney new subdivisions that are springing up everywhere along the outer boundaries of the metromess. I've caught myself asking builders if they build on owner lots several times. The city life just isn't for me, thanks.

As for my personal speed limit, 55 represents what is probably the minimum safe speed around here. In Texas, even the rural 2 lane roads often have 65 to 70 mph speed limits. My commute route has alot of 65 mph roads, and the resulting 10 mph difference is about all I'm comfortable with. People are far too aggressive on the roads out here, and unfortunately, that includes out in the stix.