Bad drivers may be fuel hogs



Test program hopes to modify behavior


By DEEDEE CORRELL LOS ANGELES TIMES



DENVER
• Hundreds of drivers here will serve as guinea pigs in a test that’s part sociology experiment, part environmental advocacy and part Drivers Ed 101.
It poses the question: When motorists see how their own aggressive driving burns gasoline, will they stop the tailgating, hard braking and speeding that increase their fuel consumption and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions?
Sponsored by EnCana Oil & Gas Co., the pilot program aims to quantify the relationship between bad driving and gas emissions, as well as to convince drivers to change. Denver is the first test site.
“People will modify their behavior,” said Larry Goldenhersh, president and chief executive officer of Enviance, a California-based company that developed the software technology for the program.
“Frankly, the prospect of having this thing in my car has already modified my behavior,” he said.
Four hundred people — 200 in the city fleet and 200 volunteers — will have accelerometers installed in their vehicles that record every time they slam on their brakes, accelerate or take a corner too quickly.
Such behaviors decrease fuel efficiency by 20 percent, Goldenhersh said. The goal of the program is to reduce emissions from each participating vehicle by 20 percent.
Once the devices are installed, participants can log onto a Web site and track how they’re doing. In addition, monitors will be installed on the cars so drivers can get real-time feedback, said David Armitage, chief executive officer of Denver-based Cartasite Inc., which manufactured the accelerators.
Rapid acceleration wastes fuel because it floods the engine with extra gas, causing the car to burn excess fuel. And, when a driver rides the brake unnecessarily, the energy that was used to get the car up to speed has been lost.
“The slower we stop the car, the less energy we’re throwing away,” Armitage said.
Losing less energy to starts and stops is one reason cars tend to get better mileage in highway driving than in-town driving.
“You can’t change what you can’t measure,” Armitage said.
If drivers don’t see the connection between their actions and the consequences, he said, “we’re not going to make a change.”
When he started tracking his own driving, Armitage noticed he braked suddenly more often than he realized. That’s because he tended to glance at his Blackberry while he drove, a habit he’s since cut out, he said.
One volunteer is Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who offered to put his Ford hybrid and driving skills to the test.
“I lobbied for this. I thought it was such a great idea,” said Hickenlooper, who’s hopeful his own tracking device won’t reveal too many bad habits. “My mother made me take defensive driving back in high school. I’m from the old school.”
Ultimately, such efforts might help reduce Denver’s carbon footprint, Goldenhersh said.
Rapid acceleration wastes fuel because it floods the engine with extra gas, causing the car to burn excess fuel.