If you drive on North Dakota highways, you may notice that hardly anybody these days adheres to speed limits. The best example is the interstates. Since the speed limit was increased to 80 miles per hour, motorists are now creeping past 85 mph.
Likewise on U.S., state and county highways.
Why does everyone seem to be in such a hurry. Granted, as a retired person, I’m never in a hurry these days, but there were times in my newspaper career I was pushing deadlines, so I understand being in a hurry. But, if I was on the road, I always tried to observe the speed limits as much as I could. Seldom did I or do I exceed the speed limit.
But, a lot of people do exceed it and it sometimes makes me wonder. People just love to fly down the highway with their Ram, Ford F-150, GMC or Chevy, 4-wheel-drive pickup trucks. They all have plenty of giddy up, but I own a Ford F-150 and I know what kind of mileage it gets at 80 or 85 miles an hour. When I go beyond 65, the mileage drops like a rock.
So why do people go so fast, but still complain about the price of gas? I say, if you want to fly down the highway, don’t complain because there is something you can do about it.
A lot of motorists seem to be unaware, may have forgotten or don’t care, but if you slow that big Ford F-150 down 5 miles per hour, your gas mileage is going to increase. It may not be a show stopper, but it will increase.
I learned that a long time ago in college. Trips from Grand Forks home to Hazelton are 250 miles and on many of those weekend trips, my speed was 50 miles per hour because I didn’t have enough money to fill the tank at will and I wanted to spend the weekend with my parents.
One time on the way home, the gauge showed empty at Napoleon, which is 26 miles east of Hazelton. I slowed down to 45 miles per hour and drove that 26 miles on North Dakota Highway 34 and I made it home, although I was on pins and needles that last 10 miles. But, it worked.
Of course, we can’t always drive 45 miles per hour on a trip across the state, but I’m merely pointing out, again, that slowing down 5 miles per hour helps.
Nor, do many of us want to drive a Yugo. For those who don’t want to stop complaining, there are two alternatives; electric or hybrid. Otherwise, it’s going to cost… a lot….to fill the tank with gasoline.
I’m sure we’ve all heard stories about an oddity vehicle like a big old Lincoln Continental that could get 40 miles to the gallon. I don’t know if those stories are true, but it’s possible because 50 years ago, a lot of mechanics were keen on fine tuning carburetors.
About a year ago, my Trans Am stalled on a Minot city street, Friday afternoon at 4 p.m., no less. It was towed out to Motorhead Repair and after a diagnostic, they told me the carburetor was gummed up, some of the screws were loose and so on. They took it completely apart, rebuilt it and now that car, with a 305 V8 is getting 28 miles per gallon on the highway. The mileage wasn’t that good when it was my primary car. I once drove it from Fargo to St. Joseph, Mo., on a tank of gas. It worked out to 26 miles per gallon. Now, at 41 years old, it’s actually getting better mileage because of the carburetor.
Today, with fuel injected engines, I highly doubt any of that is possible. However, the auto industry as a whole, I’m sure, could figure out how to improve mileage in vehicles. They probably already know. We can put people on the moon, but we can’t get a car to hit 40 miles per hour unless it’s the smallest car and engine possible.
Regardless, I’m just saying, we can control our own fate here. I don’t know about you, but my monthly gas bill has nearly doubled since January and it’s eating away at what would otherwise be spending money for other bills, groceries, clothing, whatever. In my own mind, I have to slow down a bit. It’s the only positive I can find that actually helps.
My F-150 was paid off a long time ago and I can’t get anything for it on a trade because it now has 315,000 miles. So, I’ll just keep it and slow down a bit. It’s better than paying 7 percent interest on a new vehicle and $4.20 for a gallon of gas.
