Obsessive Behavior Saves Gas

NPR reports on 'hypermilers', drivers who practice active gas-saving techniques like braking lightly and combining trips. One hypermiler says he isn't doing it to be green: 'The environment I'm concerned with is my wallet.'

1 minute read

June 10, 2008, 5:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur

"With gas prices relentlessly soaring, Americans are being forced to rethink their driving habits. Many are combining trips, driving less or shifting to mass transit.

Then there are the "hypermilers," drivers who strive to boost their gas mileage by changing their behavior behind the wheel.

They include Kent Johnson, who was found recently at a parking lot outside Laurel, Md., leaning against his red Chevy Aveo hatchback, holding his right shoe.

He had driven there with one shoe off, the one for the accelerator foot, "so you can feel the pedal pressure a little bit easier," he explains. "You know, when you're trying to eke that extra little bit, then, just small things can add up.""

FULL STORY: 'Hypermilers': Squeezing Out Every Mile Per Gallon

Monday, June 9, 2008 in NPR

Transportation United States Travel Behavior Conservation Gas Prices Oil Prices View More

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