My apologies to everyone driving Route 422 and the Schuylkill Expressway along with me the last few weeks.
I was the one in the cobalt-blue Prius dawdling along near the 55-m.p.h. speed limit.
I wanted to see if it would improve my mileage.
Engineers say that it will. Although every car is different, mileage decreases "rapidly" above 60 m.p.h., according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Indeed, it says each 5 m.p.h. over 60 is like paying 30 cents a gallon more for gas.
A Prius makes it easy to measure because it has a mileage computer. My inner nerd was elated at the prospect of getting my own data.
So I kicked back. I coasted and cruised. Above all, I stayed right. Slowpokes in fast lanes are a leading cause of road rage.
I wasn't holding things up. Both highways are often so congested that all I had to do was go with the slower flow.
So to answer the question I got most often: The tally of rear-endings and middle fingers was zero.
But my new leisure allowed me to watch some appalling maneuvers, like the guy in the black sedan that zipped to the right into the exit lane, darted past me and three other cars, then butted back in line.
I also kept closer tabs on my rearview mirror - which one day on the ramp from the Vine Street Expressway to the Schuylkill showed the driver behind me, head resting on the side window, mouth agape, eyes closed and the car moving.
How do you beep at the guy behind you?
Even if people believe going slower will improve mileage, few actually do it.
In a recent survey for Access America, a travel insurance provider, 67 percent of respondents said gas prices changed their driving habits. They reduced recreational driving or consolidated errands. Only 2 percent were lifting the pedal off the metal.
U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier (D., Calif.) thinks it's time for national legislation. This month, she introduced a bill calling for a national maximum speed limit of 60 m.p.h. in urban areas, 65 in rural.
It wouldn't change much in this region, but 12 other states allow speeds up to 75.
We've been down this road before. A year after the 1973 oil crisis, the government capped speeds at 55.
Willie Nelson urged, "Don't be fuelish!" but people still sped. The law was repealed in 1995.
Still, things are different now.
I took to the road with my tires properly inflated and my trunk emptied of excess weight.
A pit crew of supporters shared tips like the "Broad Street coast," floating when the light a block ahead is red.
