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Approaching a Red Light

Even though my father was a preacher and he never cussed, I did hear some things I would not repeat, because of red lights.  Traffic lights can really be a nuisance when you hit every one of them red.  I used to have a friend whose father programed the lights.  He told me that depending on how the city wants them set up, makes for either easy or terrible travel through the lights.

I was a truck driver for eight years over the road.  Each company I drove for wanted their drivers to deal with traffic lights in a way that saved on fuel consumptions, wear and tear on the vehicle and increased safety for the driver.  What I am going to tell you now was taught to me at every trucking company I drove for.

I know I learned this while driving a tractor trailer, but these same principles can be applied to driving any vehicle and you get the same results. 

Many people just rush on up to the red light and sit there waiting for it to change to green.  It has been found that you consume more fuel just sitting there, than if you took your time and approached the light slowly enough that the light turns green before you get there.  By not coming to a complete stop, your engine will use less fuel to resume your previous speed.  Fuel mileage can increase by 2 mpg or more with this practice.  It takes no more time to slowly approach a traffic light than to rush up and just sit there.  In a big heavy vehicle like a big rig, you can actually take up less time doing this procedure because it takes less time to resume previous speed.

When you take your time to approach a red light, you do not put as much pressure on your brakes.  By doing this you put less pressure on the brake pads and this helps them to take longer before they need to be replaced. 

As for safety, when you take your time to approach a red light you get more time to see your surroundings.  The more you know about the road ahead and the surrounding area the safer your traveling will be.

Remember this, most people with a drivers license never took a class for it.  They started removing drivers ed from high schools back in the 60’s.  We have over 40 years of people learning to drive without a teacher.  Knowing what I have just written will help protect you from them.

More of my Writing:

*  Alexander Rybak
*  I Want a Good Burger
*  Don’t Burn Poison Ivy