Kansas drivers are aiming to be more fuel efficient and they are doing this by driving defensively and buying more fuel efficient cars. As the price of gasoline continues to climb, or at least, refuses to fall below the $3 mark, more and more new car buyers are doing what the Kansas folks are doing and turning to more fuel efficient vehicles to get them around.

Beyond that drivers can reduce their fuel consumption by learning to drive defensively. Aggressive driving has been shown to be the most likely car of reducing your fuel efficiency. If you speed up too fast from a full stop, speed, or simply drive in an erratic manner, your vehicle is going to burn more gas. That means you will spend all the time you saved getting from one place to another at the gas pump fueling up. Not much of a savings if you ask us.

In Kansas the winter weather gets rough so drivers have to be careful they do not trade fuel efficiency for winter driving safety. But the new fuel efficient vehicles are now as safe as their gas guzzling counterparts. There are also more varieties of fuel efficient cars available for drivers to choose from. Everything from hybrid vehicle using gas and electric or even diesel and electric synergistic systems to simply choosing a smaller vehicle with a smaller engine. Any of these choices will deliver a vehicle which gets better fuel economy than a large vehicle like a truck, SUV or van.

How far Kansas drivers will take their urge to drive more fuel efficient vehicles remains to be seen, but so far, they seem willing to do whatever it takes to throw off the chains of high gases prices and find a happy medium between better fuel efficient cars and safer, more defensive driving.

Kansas state law makers are targeting drivers who not only get behind the wheel drunk once, but those who risk doing it more than once. These repeat drunk driving offenders greatly increase the risk of getting into a deadly collision by participating in the same risky behavior even after being severely punished the first time around.

Drunk driving is bad enough once, doing it twice borders on complete madness and should be avoided at all costs. For those who believe it is worth the risk, Kansas state law makers have some changes which they should be aware of.

For instance, drunken drivers who refuse to take blood and breath tests will face mandatory jail time under a state law that takes effect July 1. Currently in Kansas, refusing the tests can cause drivers to have their licenses suspended. That means, under the new law, that if you get pulled over and the cop suspects you have been drinking you can either agree to take a breathalyzer test and prove you haven’t been drinking, or go directly to jail. (Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.)

Repeat drunk driving offenses are a common problem not just in Kansas but around the country. People who engage in drunk driving clearly have a problem when it comes to being good defensive drivers, so the idea that they might suddenly realize the error of their ways and not push their luck when it comes to getting home safe seems like a fool’s game. These people are very likely to drive drunk not once or twice, but over and over again thereby greatly increasing their risk of causing a serious collision and injuring or even killing someone else.

The best bet for you, or anyone you know in Kansas who gets pulled over for suspicion of drunk driving is to submit to the breath test and prove to the officer you are not drunk. To do otherwise is to spend the night in the local jail. At least.