The Driver Aid and Education Test Project was initiated by the Department of Energy in order to test the hypothesis that measurable improvements in fleet fuel economy can be achieved by driver awareness training in fuel-efficient driving techniques and by a manifold vacuum gauge, used individually or in combination with each other. The project, conducted from April 1976, through December 1977, in the Las Vegas, Nevada area, collected data from 435 light-duty fleet vehicles driving in typical highway and urban environments. More than six million test vehicle-miles were accumulated in the course of the project. The test results support the hypothesis stated above. However, the magnitude of the improvements (4 to 6 percent) is less than had been achieved in earlier tests conducted by others (10 to 20 percent). This difference may be attributable to the fact that motivational and performance feedback techniques were deliberately omitted from the test environment. Additionally, smaller improvements in fuel economy also appeared in the untreated control groups, suggesting that driver knowledge of the test and informal information exchange among drivers about fuel-efficient driving techniques may have influenced the results. (A)
Samenvatting