Neutral Driving etc.: How to Save Fuel Zimbabwean Style

The increasing cost of oil is forcing motorists and ordinary people in Zimbabwe to employ new tactics to cushion themselves from high prices.

Neutral driving, particularly at downhill road section, has become something of a fashion among public transport minibus drivers and general motrists as a means to cope with the ever-rising cost of fuel.

This is despite the fact that there is no real consensus as to whether neutral driving offers any savings.

Experts argue that neutral driving can inflict damage onto the brakes and engine and can result in the driver failing to control the vehicle leading to accidents. They argue that driving a vehicle downhill saves a negligible amount of fuel, and poses several risks especially if the vehicle is traveling at a speed over 40 kilometers per hour.

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Popular opinion among drivers in Zimbabwe is that neutral driving downhill without pushing the gas saves fuel, as a result, many drivers employ the tactic. On down hills, many of the drivers just let the vehicle coast along without using up any fuel.

Whatever the case, rising oil prices combined with a hyper-inflationary economy are hitting hard ordinary Zimbabweans and, in the process, influencing a change in people’s lifestyles.

Meanwhile, as oil prices hit record high in Zimbabwe commuters are being forced to dig deep in their pockets, a situation that is unsustainable given the paltry salary levels.

With a world record inflation of 11,5 million percent hovering in the background, it means that transport costs sometimes go up by over 100 percent in one month.

To make matters worse, salaries are not going up in order to match with the rising transport costs. As a result, workers are being forced to either walk, bicycle to work or live closer to work.

Schools have not been spared by the rising fuel costs, and some schools now demand that parents supply fuel to schools.

As cheap increasingly becomes a thing of the past, the ever-rising fuel costs are changing the way people live their live.

Higher transport prices mean that people cannot visit each other as often as they did in the past thereby putting extended family relationships at strain.

In addition, the cost of moving raw materials from one place to another has significantly, a scenario that has seen an explosion of food prices.

Consequently, many families are now choosing to shop local or abandon traveling altogether in order to avoid the exorbitant transport and fuel costs.

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