Tag Archives: driving

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Commuter USA: what our lives are becoming.

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I ran across this article while looking at something else on Newsweek and some of the statistics and stories shocked me. “The Long and Grinding Road” is all about the great rise in commuting that has been happening in our country, even while gas prices go up.

As we’re pushed to the edge of civilization by runaway home prices and a longing for wide-open spaces, the daily rat race is turning into a marathon. “Extreme commuters” who travel more than 90 minutes to work, one way, are the fastest-growing group of commuters, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

They give some other reasons behind the rise in commuting, but more shocking then that was all the acknowledgements of how taxing and harmful the long commutes are:

Robert Putnam, author of “Bowling Alone,” found that every 10 minutes added to your commute decreases by 10 percent the time you dedicate to your family and community.

The result of all these drivers behaving badly: more crashes. A federal study released last week found that 80 percent of crashes are caused by “driver inattention,” up from a previous estimate of 25 percent.

The longer the commute, the more likely the commuter will suffer bouts of road rage, which can lead to heart attacks, strokes and ulcers, says Dr. John H. Casada, a specialist in road stress. And Georgia Tech researchers found that every 30 minutes spent driving increases your risk of becoming obese by 3 percent.

Drivers today eat an average of 32 meals a year in their car, according to the researcher NPD Group. And one in four restaurant meals is now ordered from the car.

And then they go into all the new advances that fast food, car manufacturers and others are making to appeal to your commuting needs.
I took the brief survey Newsweek has about my commute and found the over all results surprising. 50% of the people surveyed spend over $40 a week on commuting cost. 65% of those surveyed commute over 15 miles (I think that’s one way) and spend over 30 minutes in their car. I guess I spend about the same amount of time on my bike, so maybe I’ve got to watch out for some of these things too.

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39mpg in my Civic vs. a Hybrid vs. an EV vs. Biodesiel

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HondaMindy and I took a road trip this weekend to Wheaton. We drove about 1040 miles on about 26 gallons of gas (and we managed to find some of it at just $2.55 a gallon!). Basically we ran close to 39mpg average. Now as far as your normal gas powered car goes, that’s pretty darn good. But, maybe it’s not good enough.
When we where looking for a car last fall (our good ol’ Mitsubishi bit the dust), I was definitely interested in a hybrid. They supported my ethical belief that our dependence on oil is bad. They also cost a lot and I couldn’t find a used one in the entire state of Tennessee. Yet, I figured someday Hybrids would become cheaper, or at least there’d be more used ones available.
Today I ran across this guy’s post about his Toyota RAV4 EV (electric Vehicle). It runs on a big fat battery, no gas needed. All in all it’s pretty impressive in light of current gas prices. At the same time people have criticized EV cause their huge battery and energy intake is just as bad on the environment as gas.
Finally, there’s the cool hippyish idea of running your car on vegetable oil and grease. biodiesel very much interest me. I almost bought a tiny dodge rabbit (was that the model?) that had been converted to biodiesel off ebay in North Carolina. Yet, I also heard that rising demands for biodiesel is causing it to be manufactured, rather then just converted from byproducts, which is just as harmful for the environment.

All that to say, I’m not sure where I stand on the whole what vehicle to drive thing. I’m all for raising the gas prices a lot, that’ll force people to choose alternatives (but I’ll still search for the cheapest stuff). All in all, I’m a fan of biking (like I’m going to do right now from work, cause it finally stopped raining.