Easy on the Gas
High fuel prices, squeezed budgets, reliant on using their car – this is what many households, particularly lower income ones, are having to put up with.
There may be a way out – without having to buy a new, fuel-efficient car: it is called ‘eco-driving’. Eco-driving refers to a range of driving techniques that can be employed to drive more efficiently and hence save on fuel bills: smooth and anticipatory driving, ensuring that tyre pressure is at the right level, trip planning, using engine braking, to name only a few.
Easy on the Gas, authored by Dr Ivo Wengraf, investigates the potential of eco-driving to deliver cost and emissions savings, and the ways in which it can be encouraged, for example through the driving test, intelligent vehicle design and information campaigns. It also addresses the issues of maintaining eco-driving techniques over time, as well as potential trade-offs between fuel-efficient driving and safety.
