To borrow a famous line from Mr. Eric Clapton, "It's in the way that you use it."
The same way not all automotive brands and models are created equal, the same can certainly be said about their drivers. While many people and publications go to great lengths to judge and rate vehicles on performance and reliability, the simple fact remains that the way we drive on a daily basis will have a significant influence on our vehicles and ultimately our ownership experience.
We have all experienced it before, riding with (or even worse, behind) someone who barely uses the accelerator, gingerly taking every turn at a fraction of the posted limit, essentially driving as if one false move and the car is going to bite them back. Now compare the life of this vehicle with that of your average NYC cab, which seems to have only two real speeds, full acceleration and full deceleration. It is almost as if the pedals of those Crown Vics are somehow connected where if you step on one the other is pushed up and vice versa. While all vehicles experience wear and tear to some degree through normal operation, we absolutely control its rate and progression through our actions.
Another experience I am sure every driver has been witness to is the stop light drag race. A considerable amount of the average driver's miles are spent on "boulevard" style roads, not necessarily intercity, but not suburban either. Often divided and typically two or three lanes, these thoroughfares are dotted with traffic signals and see enormous volumes of commuting traffic everyday. Fortunately, many municipalities have used their collective brainpower to time traffic signals so that volume will flow accordingly at proper speeds. Unfortunately, not all drivers understand or even care about this and race away from every light that seems to get in their way.
And while it would be nice to be rid of these noisy, pesky, wasteful folk, you are left only to pull up right along beside them again a couple of hundred yards down the road where they are fuming (with hot brakes creaking) at the fact that they are hitting all the lights. Now, continually stomping on the gas and subsequently jamming on the brakes will have an obvious effect on your mileage, (though this breed generally doesn't seem to notice) as well as your blood pressure. Two areas where the influence may not be immediately felt, however, are in your travel times and long-term ownership costs.
Do the basic math for a second and the argument for taking on every public road and highway as if it were the next running of the Daytona 500 becomes truly pathetic. Consider that if you are to make a 25 mile trip in your vehicle and average a speed of 50 mph over that distance, you are looking at total travel time of 30 minutes. To raise your average speed by a incidental 5 extra miles per hour will make the difference between driving at a comfortable and legal speed versus a hellish ride marred by spilled coffee, screeching tires, and police intervention for an overall time savings of 150 seconds. Catch one more light in there, and its a wash.
The vehicular areas where aggressive driving behavior will surface are, of course, in tires and brakes, but also transmission and even engine components and these items cost real money to fix or replace. Then there are the physical and emotional costs of driving like a maniac both to you and other drivers on the road. Finally, we have the environmental concerns of additional CO2 emissions and wasted fuel for what in the end is really, no reason.
Just the way slowing down on the highway by a few miles per hour can dramatically increase your fuel efficiency, driving smartly "in-town" has been estimated to increase mileage by up to 5-10%. And that is for essentially doing nothing. Try once on your way home the next time around. Rather than speed off at the same rate of those steaming types, accelerate at what feels like a logical rate (not too slow as that also isn't efficient) and then coast to the next light where the wannabe Mario Andretti's are waiting no doubt with a foot on each pedal.
Be sure to give them your best, "You're an idiot" smile.
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