9:03am Thursday 8th October 2009
By Helen Mead
Once you pass your driving test, you imagine that’s it for life – that there isn’t any more to learn.
But you would be wrong. Now, experienced drivers are learning new techniques with the advent of smart driving.
Smart, or ‘green’ driving, involves ditching poor driving habits in favour of those that cut your fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, with the knock-on benefit of saving money.
And on Saturday and Monday, Bradfordians will be able to try their hand at greening up their driving at a special event in Bradford’s Kirkgate Centre. They’ll be able to have a go on a driving simulator that scores users and helps them get more miles for their money.
The machine was recently installed in City Hall where Bradford Council officers and councillors tried to put eco-friendly advice from members of the Energy Saving Trust – who brought along the machine – into practice.
“By keeping an eye on the dials, the simulator helps drivers to keep revs low – ideally the first gear change should be at between 2,000 and 2,500 revs per minute, depending on whether your car is diesel or petrol, and the lower you keep your revs, the more fuel-efficient you will be,” says Liz Henry, transport and sustainability assistant with the Energy Saving Trust. “It also helps you to anticipate the road ahead, which is key to smart driving,”
Council staff – including the Lord Mayor’s chauffeurs – also took part in a green driving session on the roads of Bradford.
Smart driving trainer Steve Johnson accompanied them on a four-mile route from the Council offices at Jacob’s Well, up Little Horton Lane, along Horton Park Avenue to Great Horton Road, then up Great Horton Road to Cross Lane, along Hudson Avenue and Southfield Lane, and back down Little Horton Lane.
Chauffeur Tony Pickersgill was very impressed with how much fuel he saved over the route. On his run, he managed a saving of 20 per cent in fuel, simply by driving differently.
“If that saving could be achieved across the whole Council vehicle fleet, the fuel costs would drop dramatically,” he says.
Bradford Council’s executive member for environment and culture, Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, was also impressed when she took up the challenge and improved from a fuel consumption of 33.9mpg to 40.5mpg.
I was among those invited to take part. First, I drove around the route while Steve observed. Fuel consumption worked out at 34.1mpg. Then we set off again, with Steve advising. Frequently, I would get too close to the car in front, particularly while approaching traffic lights or a junction, and was accelerating until the last moment before stopping. “Ease back and slow down earlier, then your journey will flow more easily,” he says. “Take time when approaching queues or traffic lights, then as the car slows, ease off the accelerator and roll the last car length – the lights should change by then. Keep a reasonable distance behind the car in front.”
Some drivers have a habit of always changing through the gears, Steve explains. But today it is not generally good practice to use the gears in this way – it is more fuel-efficient to change down gears in blocks such as fifth to second or fourth to second. “You can miss gears out and select those that are most useful to you,” he says.
I believed that putting the clutch into neutral used no fuel, but in modern cars it uses more. “The engine management system in a car’s computer will inject fuel to keep it ticking over,” Steve points out.
There were some unforseen hazards along the route. As we travelled along Horton Park Avenue, I was forced to stop for someone reversing into the road, and on Little Horton Lane, the car in front of me stopped unexpectedly at a pedestrian crossing, even though the light was on green.
Steve ticked me off for letting a man illegally speaking on a mobile phone while driving, pull out from a side road. “He was happy to sit there talking on the phone,” he says.
As we pulled back into Jacob’s Well, my miles per gallon reading was 37.2 – an improvement of around ten per cent, despite the hiccups.
“Habits are often ingrained in people, but once you get used to a new driving style, it becomes second nature,” says Steve. “Being encouraged to drive sensibly is not uncool – it is eco-friendly, safer and cheaper.”
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