Common sense on fuel economy | Napa Valley Register

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Common sense on fuel economy

Sunday, July 20, 2008

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Dear editor, Every publication you read today has some recommendations to improve fuel economy. There are no magic bullets in this letter, just some common-sense questions.

The first fact is that a vehicle idling is producing zero miles per gallon. The strange thing is that I still see people waiting in line for fast food with the engine running and the air conditioning going full blast. Considering the nutritional contribution to our well-being that is supplied by these places, we probably should park our car and walk in and back out.

The next question is for our so-called "traffic engineers." Why do we populate every street corner with either a stoplight or stop sign? A car sitting at a stoplight or sign is getting zero mpg. Are we Americans so dim-witted we couldn't figure out how a "roundabout" works? Almost every other country in the world uses them. You approach a roundabout and slow down to approximately 15-30 mph dependent upon the size of the intersection. You pick an open spot in traffic and meld in. You can continue on straight, make a turn or even reverse your direction seamlessly. Of course we would have to quit spending millions of dollars building stoplights and millions more not having to maintain them But hey, you have to give up something.

It would probably be a traumatic thing for law enforcement to have to give up giving red-light runners tickets. They would just have to go back to old-fashioned law enforcement. I am sure they can make their quotas by enforcing some other infractions.

I have many more questions concerning why other changes are not done to improve the overall fuel mileage of the population but I'll save them for later. One fact is that the use of turn signals will not hurt your fuel mileage one bit.

I'm still amazed that we continue to survive as a "super power."

Chester Carter / Napa

12 comment(s)

Raven wrote on Jul 20, 2008 12:17 AM:

" Roundabouts are a great idea....i have seen them in use in Sacramento and Arcata and they work like a dream, slowing traffic and directing them thru intersections without the need for stop signs or lights "

glenroy wrote on Jul 20, 2008 7:42 AM:

" Chester….you make some good points….

Of course…none of this will matter in the not too distant future if the economy collapses will it?

Thank Pelosi for doing everything she can to makes sure the extreme left in her party is happy and content….to which they love our agony so long as we keep paying them to do so. "

kevin wrote on Jul 20, 2008 8:54 AM:

" Got a ticket for running a red light, didn't you Chester?? "

Ruff Limblog wrote on Jul 20, 2008 10:08 AM:

" When Mrs. Ruff and I go up to Truckee on I-80 to spend some time in Squaw Valley we use a roundabout when we get off 80 at CA-89. It works pretty good but many folks stop anyway.

Owning hybrid cars takes care of the "idling in traffic, at stop signs/lights" stuff along with storing much of the energy lost on braking and coasting downhill. And we personally find that our Prius gets pretty close to the same mileage at 70 mph as at 55 or 60 mph. So you dont' have to drive like a grandpa to save money with a hybrid car.

The USA would save lots of money by converting our transportation fleet to hybrids, plug-in hybrids and the new range-extended electrics coming out like the Chevy Volt. Imagine using NO gasoline for the first 40 miles of a trip!!! And imagine driving a luxurious electric car which will out perform a Corvette for about 2 cents a mile!

And, er, Kevin, did you get your 12mpg truck yet? You are such an inspiration to every progressive thinker on the planet!

~Ruff "

Raven wrote on Jul 20, 2008 10:52 AM:

" there would be a learning curve as people get used to roundabouts....but they are a great approach.....

I wish hybrid like the Prius were more affordable.....I do well with my 2005 corolla...(about 36 mpg) but anything that would improve that would be great. "

steph wrote on Jul 20, 2008 12:59 PM:

" Ruff, glad to see you back.

Where does the electricity come from for your electric car technology?

Coal, perhaps? "

kevin wrote on Jul 20, 2008 1:53 PM:

" As a matter of fact I did Ruff. (12 mpg might be exaggerating a little.)

How many TONS of stuff can that prius haul again? "

Sickothis wrote on Jul 20, 2008 5:13 PM:

" Ruff, those two rounabouts in Trukee rock. Much improved there. And yeah, let glenroy and kevin drive the 12mpg trucks with 25 gallon tanks at $5/ a gallon and whine about Pelosi all they want. "

kevin wrote on Jul 20, 2008 6:40 PM:

" Sickothis, Pelosi and Congress have a 9% APPROVAL rating. You can call it 'whining' if you want, but obviously it is justified... "

sickothis wrote on Jul 20, 2008 8:32 PM:

" Kevin - in 6 months you won't have to worry about it anymore. Obama will be president (42 state, electoral blowout), the Senate will have 66 Democrats, the house - super majority Democrats. Can't predict a number there... "

John Richards wrote on Jul 20, 2008 9:30 PM:

" Sicko..., if the Dems win as big as you predict, who will they blame their continued failures on? They will have no excuse not to turn this country into a workers paradise, right? Oh, sorry, didn't Marx predict that also for the USSR? "

Raven wrote on Jul 20, 2008 11:51 PM:

" Actually Marx didn't predict anything for the USSR...since the USSR didn't come into existence until 1917 and he died in 1883. "

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