Is Hypermiling Illegal? A Beginners’ Question Easily Answered

One of the questions that easily arise in people interested in hypermiling is whether hypermilling is illegal or not. As you may know, this activity involves many tweaks and techniques that will help you save gas, though not all of them can be put in the same basket when judging how viable are them in terms of legality and danger.

This is an excerpt from a report on CBS called “Cops: “Hypermiling” Often Risky, Illegal”, in it they talk about how some drivers take hypermiling to the extreme, risking the integrity of them and other people on the road:

“The AAA and Connecticut State Police are warning against extreme measures in “hypermiling,” a practice in which unusual techniques are used to boost vehicles’ mileage.

They include rolling through stop signs to avoid braking, turning off a car’s engine or shifting into neutral to coast down hills, over-inflating tires to decrease rolling resistance against pavement, and other techniques.

One action that authorities say is particularly dangerous is called “drafting,” tailgating big rigs in hopes of cutting wind resistance and being pulled along in a truck’s wake.

“Every one of them is illegal,” Connecticut State Police spokesman Trooper William Tate said of the “hypermiling” techniques.” Click here to read the whole article.

Well, it is true that there are certain techniques generating quite some controversy, specially the mentioned tailgating technique. Why? Simply put, tailgating is illegal and dangerous (and the risk is higher with trucks!) Hypermiling experts (at least responsible ones) are recommending you do not use this method.

Another controversial method is coasting. This technique can save you some gas but you have to do it with responsibility – this is not a game. Some people coast as they see traffic lights ahead, but let’s keep it real, we are not the only ones in the road and this technique could make some folks angry.