There is an activity that is the single biggest gas robber. You must constantly battle this gas robber to prevent it from stealing your gas. Any time you drive your car you encounter this problem.

The greatest gas robbing problem is: allowing your car to run when your car is not moving. To state it more simply, allowing your car to idle. Idling is the greatest single factor in decreasing your fuel economy.

When your car is running and you are stopped, you are getting zero miles per gallon. I cannot emphasize this enough: you are getting ZERO MILES PER GALLON when your car is idling.

If you are on the freeway for 12 minutes and getting 40 miles per gallon, and all of a sudden traffic comes to a stand still and you find yourself idling without moving for 12 minutes, your average miles per gallon just decreased from 40 mpg down to 20 mpg. The greater your idle time, the worse your average gas economy gets.

There are several factors that create conditions that cause you to idle excessively. The most common culprits are red lights. When ever you stop at a red light, you are forced to idle your car and burn fuel. Remember that your miles per gallon is zero when idling. Please note that I am not advocating running red lights! I am merely pointing out a gas robbing factor.

Another contributor to excessive idling is rush hour. The increased volume of traffic on the highways during rush hour causes you to stop more often. As a result you idle more during rush hour and waste more fuel than in non rush hour periods.

The red light problem becomes exaggerated during rush hour. Because there is higher traffic volume in the rush hour period, you have to spend more time at red lights. For example, you may be able to make it through a red light in one cycle during normal driving conditions, but that same red light may take two, three or even four cycles to get through in the rush hour period. Your idling time is thereby increased two, three or even four times.

The increased idling is stealing your fuel, and lowering your average mpg or miles per gallon. But it gets even better! There is even another major cause of increased idling time:the hated orange barrels. Road construction stops traffic. This increases your idling time. Add rush hour to the mix and it makes it worse, producing even more traffic delays and more idling time.

How can you fight this fuel robbing condition? The answer is planning. You must plan your driving trips to avoid these situations. I don't advocate not stopping at red lights but you can plan your travel routes to minimize red lights. Avoid lights that you know have long waits. Avoid areas where you know there is construction. Do your best to avoid driving during rush hour. Arrive earlier at work or stay later at work. Try to stagger your work hours so that you can commute during non rush hour times.

Minimizing the time you find yourself sitting in an idling car will help you maintain better fuel economy. Avoiding idle producing situations will go a long way towards achieving better fuel economy, thereby saving you money and saving you gas.

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Scott Siegel is the author of a 143 page book of industry insider information on saving gas and dollars at the pump (beatthegaspump.com). Visit us to discover how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.