after going 433.9 miles. This made for a fuel economy number of 38.71
miles per gallon, which is pretty good.
There's a pattern so far with my first four tanks of 2009: 35-38-35-38.
I can't really explain this, because I feel I have been trying to drive
steadily and consistently. But such is life.
I have gotten around to reading the book "Traffic (why we drive the way
we do and what it says about us)." It is quite interesting to me, and
is making me very concerned about both my driving skills and those of
the drivers around me. It's scary to read about how drastically our
ability to notice things is diminished with the smallest distractions,
including cell phones and car radios.
One nugget that I didn't know before is that, in general, people do try
to focus on the road when they are talking on the cell phone. However,
their focus tends to be concentrated on the immediate road and car
directly ahead, whereas normal drivers not on the phone tend to scan all
around, to the left and right as well as in front.
So this "tunnel vision" of focusing intently on what's directly ahead of
the driver on the cell phone actually reduces that driver's ability to
be aware of unexpected hazards to the sides, including merging traffic
or police lights.
I noticed yesterday on my way home that I did this as well-- I got a
call from home and as I was on the phone, I totally noticed that I just
stared straight ahead at the back of the truck I was following, and as
soon as I hung up, I looked all around to see what else was going on.
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