SAVE GAS?: Slower is better

    ALBANY, N.Y. _ As other cars zipped by at 70 mph or more,
Mike Papin and his wife, Joann, kept rolling along just below the
65 mph limit as they made their way from their winter home in
Florida to a summer place in Vermont.
    They've typically done six or seven miles above the speed limit
during the annual migration, but with gasoline prices roaring
toward $4 a gallon nationally, Joann suggested they ease off the
pedal during the 1,500-mile drive this year.
    ``I read somewhere that around 62 or 63 was the best speed to
drive to make the most of your gas,'' she said.
    Drivers have known for years that throttling back is a sure way
to improve gas mileage, and the Papins are among those who are
consciously slowing down to save. Several airlines have adopted the
same tactic, adding a few minutes to flights to save millions on
fuel.
    But most drivers still wink at posted speed limits because they
say their time is worth more than the gas they'd save by slowing
down.
    Kelley Goodman, an upstate New York therapist, says gas prices
haven't yet gone high enough to justify slowing down.
    ``I know it could save some money and I really should. But I'm
always running late,'' Goodman said as she pumped $3.80-a-gallon
regular unleaded into her Honda Accord.
    Researchers say today's cars are most fuel efficient at speeds
between around 30 and 60 mph, and mileage drops sharply at speeds
above 65 as engines work harder to overcome wind resistance that
rises exponentially. If drivers were forced to slow down _ and
lower speed limits were enforced _ the thirst for fuel could be
significantly reduced, which could ease prices.
    Recent surveys show that many drivers have changed their habits
to cut fuel costs, but the changes tend to be ones that bring
immediate gratification _ such as using the Internet to find
stations with the lowest prices and putting less gas in the tank
instead of filling up, said Larry Compeau, executive officer of the
Society for Consumer Psychology and an associate marketing
professor at Clarkson University.
    ``If you buy a more fuel-efficient car or find cheaper gasoline,
those things are right in front of you,'' Compeau said. ``Whether
you do 65 or 55 is much more nebulous. There's no way for you to
immediately see the impact.''
    Based on recent highway traffic volume trends, throttling back
to 60 mph from 70 mph would likely reduce gasoline usage between 2
percent and 3 percent, which is about what happened when the 55-mph
limit was imposed in the 1970s, said David Greene, a senior
researcher at the U.S. Energy Department's Oak Ridge National Lab.
    ``We're talking about a 2-to-3 percent reduction in demand,
which would mean a much larger percentage reduction in price, maybe
10 percent,'' Greene said.
    Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J.,
agreed that a 2-to-3 percent cut in demand likely would reduce
prices. But, he notes, in past years price spikes were usually
linked to refinery shortages while this surge has been tied more
directly to crude oil prices.
    ``I don't think there's a particular downside to conservation,
but that doesn't mean that if we cut back on our gas consumption,
that the price of crude oil worldwide is going to drop,'' he said.
    The idea of slowing down to save fuel isn't new. President
Richard Nixon and Congress imposed a national speed limit of 55 mph
in 1974 during the Middle East oil embargo against the U.S. Prices
at the pump quadrupled from about a quarter to more than a dollar
in places, and long gas lines were a common sight.
    States later were allowed to set 65-mph limits on rural
interstates.
    Congress repealed the national speed limit law in 1995, and
today 32 states have limits of 70 mph or higher on some parts of
their highways, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety. Texas already has an 80-mph limit on some roads and Utah's
legislature has voted to raise the limit to 80 on part of one
interstate.
    At least two states _ Alabama and Connecticut _ have considered
reducing speed limits, but those efforts haven't gained much
traction. And despite the benefits, there seems to be little
appetite in Congress for a new national speed limit.
    ``We haven't been able to find anyone to champion it,'' said
Clayton Boyce of the American Trucking Association, which is
advocating for a 65 mph national speed limit.
    Some truckers are slowing down anyway as the average price of
diesel heads toward $4.50 a gallon.
    ``I'm saving between $100 and $200 a week by cutting back from
72-73 mph to 60-65 mph,'' said Dennis Sheridan, who owns an
18-wheeler and hauls freight on a contract basis throughout the
Northeast.
    Sheridan is an owner-operator, paying for his own fuel and other
expenses and getting paid for each load delivered. And so far,
slowing down hasn't hindered his ability to make deliveries on
time.
    ``If you're going from say, New York to California, you might
lose an hour over the run,'' he said. ``But on the East Coast, what
are you going to lose, 10 minutes? You know as soon as you step on
it you're going to hit traffic anyway.''
    Drivers who work for a trucking company have no incentive to
slow down because the companies cover fuel and other costs and pay
the drivers by the mile. The more they drive, the more they earn.
    ``I haven't slowed down at all,'' said Earl Wood, a regional
driver for Allen's Foods, a Seaford, Del.-based food production and
distribution company that specializes in poultry. ``It's not worth
it to me.''
    Other company drivers have no choice but to slow down. Boyce
says many of the trade group's members have dialed back the maximum
speed on their rigs to save money on diesel.
    Con-Way Freight of Ann Arbor, Mich., is one of them. The company
in January lowered the top governed speed of its 8,400 tractors to
62 from 65 mph.
    The relatively small reduction will save roughly 3.2 million
gallons of diesel fuel annually _ about $13.3 million worth at
today's prices _ while increasing the time it takes to move freight
between cities within the company's delivery regions by about 20-30
minutes, said Con-Way spokesman Gary Frantz.
    ``We found that it will have very little impact on our
operations,'' he said.
    While Con-Way has voluntarily cut back its trucks' speed, some
states have considered the idea of mandating lower speeds for all
vehicles.
    Last year, Connecticut State Sen. Thomas Gaffey introduced a
bill that would lower the maximum speed limit there to 60 mph from
65 mph, but it died in committee.
    State Rep. Thad McClammy of Alabama _ which has a maximum speed
limit of 70 mph _ this year proposed a measure that would enable
his state to easily ratchet down speed limits when fuel prices are
high and raise them when prices are low.
    His bill would create a state commission with the power to
adjust speed limits rather than having to go through what can be a
cumbersome legislative process. McClammy said his bill doesn't
appear to have the support it needs to pass this session, but he'll
keep pushing.
    ``There is no realistic option on the table from anyone else to
deal with the situation, and this legislation is going to look
better every time the price goes up at the pump,'' he said.