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Here’s a tip that will not only help you increase your vehicle’s fuel economy, but will also help you become a much safer driver:

Follow the “3 Second Rule”

As you are driving down the road – particularly at highway speeds – make sure that you give keep plenty of space between your car, truck, SUV, etc. and the vehicle in front of you. In most cases, you are giving proper spacing if you are traveling three seconds behind the car in front of you, however, you will likely need to give more time and space if you’re driving in bad weather.

For those of you who don’t know how to tell how close you are traveling to the car in front of you, pick a set object up a head – an exit sign, a light pole, etc. – and once the bumper of the car you’re following crosses the designated object, begin counting and don’t stop until the hood of your car passes the same object.

Following the “3 Second Rule” will help keep you from constantly tapping your brakes and accelerator every time the car in front of you slows down and speeds up. By avoiding tap dancing on your brake and accelerator pedals, you can significantly increase your fuel economy. Here’s why:

By tapping your brakes, you essentially waste the energy it took to get up to and maintain the speed at which you were traveling. Then, In order to get back up to your previous speed, you’ll need to hit your accelerator, which, obviously, will take some energy. This energy – both the wasted energy and the newly required energy – came from or will come from the burning of your car’s fuel.

If you leave plenty of space between you and other drivers, you’ll give yourself time to adequately judge whether you actually need to use your brakes, or if you can just ease off the accelerator and coast for a short while. If you coast, you’ll still lose some of the initial energy and will still have to use fuel to get back up to the previous speed, but it won’t be nearly as much as if you had used your brakes.

Using less fuel tends to mean better gas mileage!

And, in terms of safety, by having plenty of space between you and the car ahead of you, you’re much more likely to avoid a serious accident because you’ve given yourself enough time to either come to a stop, or make the proper “evasive maneuver.”