A whole raft of studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between preventable accidents, fuel efficiency and the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) and driver behaviour. (Some links to studies are available at the bottom of this article.)
Education around safe driving is of course a good way to minimise accidents but also help to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
The fuel efficiency of a vehicle can be affected by 5% to 30% by driver behaviour, no matter the vehicle size. “Aggressive” driving – acceleration, speeding and braking can lower fuel economy by 33% on motorways and 5% in urban areas.
Here are some tips on driver behaviour that will help to reduce emissions:
- Change your driving style
- Change gear earlier
- Do not explore the upper reaches of the rev range
- Brake sooner and more smoothly
- Slow down
- Consider your use of the car’s air conditioning system
- Reduce idle time
- Maintain the vehicle’s aerodynamic efficiency (e.g. use a roof box for leisure trips, remove it when not needed).
EMTEC’s goal is to fight transport-based emissions and pollution through the use of metrics. We have developed a cloud-based platform that receives data from connected vehicles via smart devices, which can then be used to provide real time analysis of vehicle performance and driver behaviour. EMTEC provides data on vehicle location, trip history, driver behaviour, CO2 emissions as well as acceleration and hard braking metrics. To find out more please contact us.
Interesting links / studies related to driver behaviour
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352146517310396