Question: I’ve been driving for years, but my significant other just told me that my driving makes him carsick. He says it’s because I’m constantly letting off the gas and pressing down hard on it, which creates a jerky motion. How can I keep a steady speed behind the wheel?
Answer:
Maintaining constant speed while driving can make your drive smoother for your passengers, and it can make your vehicle more fuel efficient. While driving smoothly does not come naturally to everyone, it can be achieved with these practical driving tips and practice time.
How to maintain speed while driving
Here are some tips to reduce changes in speed.
- Use cruise control: If your vehicle is equipped with cruise control, set the speed when you are driving on freeways, highways and long, straight roads to keep the car steady without relying on the accelerator.
- Plant your heel on the floor: This will help you maintain a consistent amount of pressure on the accelerator by creating a pivot point.
- Replace your leadfoot with a light foot: Lighter pressure on the gas or brake pedal means less G forces for everyone.
- Look at the lane lines and passing light posts: Don’t go into a trance, but keep a watchful eye on how fast you’re going by them. You should pass each one at the same consistent pace, and this can be a great way to maintain your speed.
- Use your speedometer: Glance at your speedometer about every 15 to 30 seconds to see if you’re maintaining a constant speed.
- Don’t just go with the flow of traffic: This will create a jerky motion or will cause you to speed up and slow down more often than not. Anticipate when the traffic flow will change so you can ease into it without using your brake or gas pedal too much.
- Avoid distractions: Driving while texting, eating or other distracting tasks can make you more likely to brake hard when traffic slows.
What should you do to maintain a constant speed when driving uphill?
The interstates in Idaho are particularly difficult to maintain a constant speed when driving uphill because they have a high speed limit of 80 MPH and they are steep. You’ll see semi trucks struggling on the right-hand lane.
Fundamentally, the best way to go uphill and maintain a constant speed involves matching your gas pedal’s pressure to the gradient of the hill. As it gets steeper, step further into the gas pedal. You can also turn off your air conditioning (A/C) to get more power. A car’s A/C draws power from the engine, which can be in limited supply for smaller cars, making it harder for smaller vehicles to get up the hill.
Also, most cars will try to keep a constant speed uphill if you use your cruise control. The car’s computer will downshift, and your car might get louder. Cruise control will manage your speed for you if it is set. If you are driving a stick shift, then you might need to downshift even if you have cruise control on.
Xuyun Zeng is a content strategist with a wide-ranging content background including tech, journalism, cars and health care. After graduating with highest honors in journalism, Xuyun led a newspaper to win eight awards, helped start an award-winning film industry podcast and has written over a hundred articles about cars repair, state laws and insurance. Prior to joining Jerry, Xuyun worked as a freelance SEO consultant with a mission to create the best content that will help readers and grow organic traffic.
Ashley Eneriz is an editor and finance writer with over 15 years of experience in a wide range of financial topics, including car loans and insurance. In editing for Jerry, Ashley aims to make all car material reader-friendly for both the new driver and car enthusiast alike. Prior to joining Jerry, Ashley was the financial deputy editor for ConsumerAffairs. Her work is featured on Forbes, Yahoo, MSN, The Hartford and more.
