 This morning on the way into work I was listening to NPR and the segment was about how Sweden is making it mandatory for drivers to learn how to drive in a more eco-friendly way. I believe this is fantastic and should be incorporated in driver's education worldwide.
I found these tips extremely helpful because I'm not in the position to buy a more eco-friendly vehicle. All of the hybrid cars are so expensive and so I need to help the environment by using these techniques instead.
One of the tips I found most useful was to find a parking space at which you can pull out rather than have to back out on exit. When you back out of a parking space you end up pushing on the gas pedal twice; once to back up and the second time to pull forward. Common sense, I know, but I hadn't thought of it that way previously. Though I do tend to pull forward just because I have always felt it is easier.
Other tips included making sure you coast as much as possible if you see you'll be needing to brake down the road. You should drive in as high a gear as possible and try to avoid aggressive acceleration from a standing start.
Sweden has been making these efforts, and enforcing them strongly, because most of the people there drive gas guzzlers. Sweden is the home of Saab and Volvo makers.
Swedish driving instructor Lars Rembjer has two words of advice for his pupils, the first in the world to have to prove they can be kind to the environment to get their licences: think ahead. "Eco-driving is the future because there are only winners. The environment benefits and your wallet benefits," he says.
For more information on how Sweden is trying to become a green role model, click here.Labels: driving, eco-friendly |
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