Wingnuts and Things That Actually Work

Darleen Click says her ass is chapped, but we really don't care about that. What we do care about is her flip, offhand dismissal of what is actually a pretty fucking good idea:

One could almost hear the audible hissing over McCain’s ad questioning O!’s unseriousness over drilling while O! continues his Great Pretender tour, yet O! turns around and continues to insult the intelligence of those not completely in his thrall:

“We could save all the oil that they’re talking about getting off drilling if everybody was just inflating their tires and getting regular tune-ups. You could save just as much.”

Oh goody. Let’s all welcome the Pressure Police.

Sorry, Darleen--hate to have to introduce you to common sense, but it actually would save a hell of a lot of gas:

A driver with severely under-inflated tires can spend $800 more per year on fuel than necessary, according to Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive consumer information. With approximately 250 million vehicles on the road in the United States, the potential for saving billions of dollars and tons of fuel is remarkable. These findings were among the results of Edmunds.com's study entitled "Edmunds Employees Put to the Tire Pressure Test"

The study, carried out by Edmunds.com's "Green Committee," concluded that on average, the company's employees' tires were nearly seven percent below the manufacturers' suggested tire pressure. The 212 Edmunds' employees who participated in the project will save 5,820 gallons of gas a year and approximately $20,500 per year by properly inflating their vehicles' tires. GreenCarAdvisor.com points out that such savings will also reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 204.3 tons a year. The company has supported this effort by distributing tire pressure gauges to its employees and promising to regularly remind them to check their tire pressure.

"When our Green Committee suggested this program, the executives immediately supported it and we began communicating it to our partners and vendors, hoping it will inspire other companies to adopt a similar practice," commented Edmunds.com President and Chief Operating Officer Avi Steinlauf. "There is real potential for companies to make a difference - both economically and environmentally - through such an initiative."

Poor wingnuts. Chapped asses, no common sense, and stuck with John "Cotton Hill" McCain.

--WS

Nah, I think you better speed up a little...

Sometimes, common sense has to come into play, right?

Experts say motorists can save money on gas by slowing down, but, as one Maryland man found out, that may not always be a good idea.

Glenn Conrad said his Honda hybrid usually gets about 70 miles per gallon, but he feels great if he can get 80 miles per gallon or more.

Conrad admitted he is what's known as a "hyper-miler," someone who stretches his or her car's miles per gallon by altering his or her driving habits.

On June 12, Conrad was "hyper-miling" on Interstate 95 on his way to Baltimore/Washington International Airport. He said his car would roll down hills at up to 65 mph, and he would tap the gas until it reached 55 mph going uphill or 50 mph just puttering down the road.

Conrad said he was surprised when a Maryland State Police trooper pulled him over.

The trooper asked Conrad why he was driving 50 mph. Conrad said he was saving gas.

The trooper, however, was more concerned with motorist safety and issued Conrad a warning for driving 15 mph under the posted speed limit.

"Speed limits aren't just put there just because the state decides what they want," said Maryland State Police Sgt. Chris Davala. "It's because of fuel conservation and the safety of the other motorists and the motorists around you on the highways."

AAA officials agreed that driving too slow can be a hazard.

"The optimum speed for saving gas is probably 55 or a little above that right now, so the thought that you're saving more gas by driving 50 or 45 on high-speed roads isn't accurate, and it's very, very dangerous," said AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman Lon Anderson.

Conrad said he won't go 50 mph on the I-95 again -- he'll drive 51 mph.

Well, Mr. Conrad--it's your right to be a shithead. But instead of thinking about yourself or about what little money you can save by endangering others by driving too slow on a major traffic artery--maybe you should just take the side streets.

I'm all for slowing down and saving gas--but common sense has to kick in at some point and you have to realize that someone driving too slow on a freeway like the I-95 is going to get someone killed. I drive on the I-95 virtually every day, and the flow of traffic is a natural 70 to 80 miles an hour, across four lanes or more, if not faster. Not great for saving gas, but with hundreds of thousands of vehicles going that fast, you have to realize--all it takes is one idiot and everyone's going to be sitting in a parked car, idling and burning gas, and that'll be the end of those savings.

It'll also be the end of Mr. Conrad's Prius, too.