Driving Habits

Change some driving habits

Driving smoothly, with as little sudden acceleration or braking as possible, evens out fuel use and improves the efficiency of your car's engine.

• Suddenly, going slow is not so bad after all
  • If you cut your average speed from 70mph to around 50mph, you will burn about 25% less petrol
  • Even shutting all the windows will make your car that bit more aerodynamic, cutting the cost of a journey from, for example, London to Exeter from £20 to £15
• Tinker with your car
  • Have a look inside your car. Is the dog guard inside? Is the roof rack still on? What about those six pairs of walking boots sitting in the boot?
  • The heavier your car is, the more fuel it uses. So slim it down and save some money (and clean those boots you have been meaning to attend to for months...)
  • You could also revisit the air point at your nearest garage (that is about all there is to do there nowadays). Well-maintained tyres, kept at the proper pressure, are far more fuel-efficient
• Leave your car at home
  • A quarter of all car journeys in Britain are less than two miles long, and walking or cycling are cheap and clean alternatives
  • The school run is a particularly popular way of burning up fuel: a fifth of cars on the road in the morning are filled with children being driven to school
  • Getting out of the car and onto the pavement would not only save petrol, but would burn flab instead of fuel - always a good idea
• Leave yourself at home
  • Instead of fighting the traffic on the daily commuter run, how about experimenting with working from home?
  • More and more employees are finding this an effective alternative, especially with the growth of email and mobile phones
• Cuddle up
  • It will not suit every journey. But if you dug out that old train timetable, you might find there is a public transport alternative that would get you to your destination in the same amount of time
  • For the truly brave, how about car-sharing or using car clubs? You will have to be sure you are happy with your colleague's pungent aftershave and dodgy line of conversation
  • But if everyone who normally drives to work were to get a lift with someone else just once a week, car commuting would fall by around a quarter