Official chauffeurs to learn how to drive more efficiently

THE Balearic Ministry for the Environment is to send Balearic Government chauffeurs on an efficient driving course.
This week it will send all the Balearic Government chauffeurs on an efficient driving course, in line with the recommendation by the Office of Climatic Change, that they should set an example in trying to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, 22 percent of which come from private transport. This was how the Director General of this department, Patricia Conrado, explained it. She insisted that this initiative will seek to “inform the citizen of the existence of driving techniques to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide”. According to the Office's calculations, efficient driving could reduce by 15 percent the emissions generated by private motorists, who drive without using the emission saving options which new car technology offers them. Drivers “have learned a style of driving which has not been adjusted to this new technology” in spite of the fact that “it is possible to adopt a different style” at the wheel which “would have positive effects” on fuel consumption, emissions of carbon dioxide and road safety, she said. The behaviour of the motorist “has a great influence on the fuel consumption of his vehicle” said Conrado, who added that the criteria for efficiency were based on the use of the accelerator, the gears, deceleration of the car, elimination of jerky driving and the efficient handling of unforeseen traffic situations”.