Stay speed-legal, and save the most

Record fuel prices mean we’re all looking for ways to keep our costs sensible while still making the journeys we need to. And the best way to make a gallon go further is to...stick to the speed limits.

This might sound blindingly obvious. But what I didn’t realise is just how much extra fuel you burn by straying over the max. In a petrol car with a 1.6-litre engine, you’ll manage, say, 40 miles per gallon at 65mph. Drive at 90mph and you’ll use twice as much fuel. At current prices, that’s an extra £15 over a 100-mile journey.

Even at 80mph, you’ll burn an extra 50% over what you would at 65mph, adding £7.50 to your bill for every 100 miles. And there’s a real chance of picking up a fine - and points on your licence – along the way.

What’s more, small, high-mpg cars are most affected by high-speed driving. The saving in fuel between a big off-roader and a fuel-sipping city car is much smaller at 80mph than it is at 50mph.

Don’t take this the wrong way: I’m not suggesting that we dawdle along, never straying above 30mph. Do so on the motorway and you could even be hauled before the courts – such behaviour counts as careless driving. No, just keep it moderate and watch the limits.

It’s amazing to think ,isn’t it, that the high price of petrol and diesel may achieve what years of road safety campaigning, thousands of Gatsos and dozens of police patrols couldn’t. We may yet become a nation that drives at the speeds we’re told to.

But what do you think – will the extra cost of driving fast make us obey the limits?