11/13/08 Hypermiling Factor Fad

Are you a "frugalista" who occasionally shows up at a "carrot mob" and opted to take a "staycation" this year? If you consider yourself the aforementioned and also practice the technique of hypermiling you can officially title yourself as one of the truly innovative peoples who have embraced this year's "new" lingo and lifestyle changes. Hypermiling is probably the most easily recognized new phrase and has been chosen as "word of the year" for 2008 by the New Oxford American Dictionary. To hypermile is to attempt to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to your car and your driving techniques. I'm curious though, whether hypermiling will go the way of most fads or become a fact of life for Americans. With gas prices fluctuating rapidly from day to day and the U.S. dollar sinking slowly into the sunset some aspects of hypermiling will probably remain in our culture. Certain hypermiling techniques though such as tailgating, drafting larger vehicles, or rolling through stop signs are quite dangerous and should probably go the way of fad.