Drivers coping with gas prices

Out here in California gas prices are approaching $ 5.00 a gallon. Diesel above $ 5.00. Now the conseses is $ 7.00 by November. Break out and dust off the bicycles - - - - -

If we could find a place where gas only cost $4 a gallon, we would line up around the block. You should be happy that you only have to pay that much.

So let me see the one couple rents one house owns another and just bought a new 4 wheeler which i know for a fact run close to 8,000 dollars and they are griping about gas proces. Things that make you go hmmmm.

Even though gas prices are outrageous, I have still seen huge RVs on our highways. If there continues to be large demands for gasoline, the prices will continue to rise.

BTW, my 14 year old car is still getting 30 miles per gallon! YEAH!!

My 18 year old car gets about the same =D

I have a giant v-8 engine in my lincoln which i wish i did not have now but hey i do not gripe about gas prices not when i own two vehicles have high speed internet and sat tv and a 7,500 dollar 4 wheeler. Why gripe when you bring it on yourself. If you cannot afford the gas......hello it is called a budget quit spending your money on things you cannot afford and and lose some of the things you might think are luxuries which probally are not.

My 9 year old car's getting 46. But then, I'm paying the close to $5/gal for Diesel.

All four seats are used up for my commute to WSMR every day. Two are my kids though, so only one helps with the fuel cost.

I still see people speeding like there's no tomorrow and a whole lot of people making the drive alone. Until demand goes down, prices will keep climbing.

Ron Jeske wrote:

If we could find a place where gas only cost $4 a gallon, we would line up around the block. You should be happy that you only have to pay that much.

We also don't have the income here and the tax base that you have. So no, I shouldn't be happy. There is a reason I don't/won't live in California.

BTW I hear it's even cheaper in OK.

Story from Yahoo News:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080722/us_nm/usa...

"Southern drivers stung most by fuel costs: report"

WASHINGTON (Reuters)- Drivers in the South have been hit hardest by soaring U.S. gasoline costs and state governments there should take more steps to help cut fuel consumption, said a report released on Tuesday.

Average motorists in Mississippi spent nearly 8 percent of their incomes on gasoline in 2007 and drivers in South Carolina and Georgia spent more than 7 percent, according to the report released on Tuesday by environmental group the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Meanwhile, drivers in the Northeast spent the least amount of their incomes on fuel with Connecticut motorists paying just over 3 percent. Drivers in New York spent about 3.3 percent and motorists in Massachusetts spent about 3.5 percent.

The report comes as the federal government has been hard-pressed to protect consumers, already hit by the housing and credit crunches, from average retail gasoline prices that are bubbling near record levels of above $4.11 per gallon hit earlier in the month.

The report, called "Fighting Oil Addiction: Ranking States' Oil Vulnerability and Solutions for Change," ranked the states for their setting of fuel conservation measures like incentives for buying fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, slowing suburban sprawl, and targets for reducing driving.

The federal government should lead cuts in fuel demand by setting fuel-economy standards for cars and heavy trucks, the report said.

Presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama have also said they support economy-wide emissions caps on greenhouse gases, which could help phase out gas guzzling vehicles.

In addition, "states can do a whole lot more than they realize to cut fuel costs," said Deron Lovaas, vehicle campaign director for the NRDC.

California, New York and Connecticut ranked highest in the report in the number of steps taken to fight consumption.

Mississippi had not taken any of the 10 conservation steps in the report while South Carolina had taken two and Georgia, three. All three states ranked low on the priority they had given to mass transit.

Some of the conservation steps taken by states, including research and development grants for fuels and cars, have been adopted too recently to measure their impacts on consumption. But the states that have acted should log cuts in demand similar to the way states like California have slashed per capita power demand after taking conservation steps on electricity, Lovaas said.

Dave wrote:

My 9 year old car's getting 46. But then, I'm paying the close to $5/gal for Diesel.
All four seats are used up for my commute to WSMR every day. Two are my kids though, so only one helps with the fuel cost.
I still see people speeding like there's no tomorrow and a whole lot of people making the drive alone. Until demand goes down, prices will keep climbing.

Not hardly. I posted the link a few weeks back showing the facts but can't find it now.
Our fuel usage has dropped ALOT, like in the millions of gallons per month. This was a comparison with last year on a month to month basis.
SO, if our usage has dropped so much then why is the price still rising?
Supply and demand sounds really good but it's far from the truth!

The AP has found a silver lining to the surge in gas prices nationwide.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080722/ap_on_re_...

The rising gas prices have nothing to do with lower fatalities. Better car design ie, side-impact bags, etc. are making cars safer and more likely to survive an accident. It doesn't mean there are less drivers on the road.

Hey Genius. Read the article again. It says: Researchers with the National Safety Council report a 9 percent drop in motor vehicle deaths overall through May compared with the first five months of 2007, including a drop of 18 percent in March and 14 percent in April. Auto makers didn't just start building safer cars. Safer cars have been in production for years. Call me a simpleton but its obvious to me as the price of gas climbs there will be less cars on the road.

Trey B wrote:

Hey Genius. Read the article again. It says: Researchers with the National Safety Council report a 9 percent drop in motor vehicle deaths overall through May compared with the first five months of 2007, including a drop of 18 percent in March and 14 percent in April. Auto makers didn't just start building safer cars. Safer cars have been in production for years. Call me a simpleton but its obvious to me as the price of gas climbs there will be less cars on the road.

Yes, the cars built in the last year; more have side-impact airbags.

You are silly to think there are less vehicles on the road when studies prove otherwise.

you bunch of whiners

PinkFloyd wrote:

The rising gas prices have nothing to do with lower fatalities. Better car design ie, side-impact bags, etc. are making cars safer and more likely to survive an accident. It doesn't mean there are less drivers on the road.

But the last time road deaths fell this fast and this sharply was during the Arab oil embargo in 1973-1974, when fatalities tumbled 17 percent, from about 55,100 to 46,000;

Back then, there were no side airbags, no front airbags, and seatbelt usage was virtually unheard of. Fuel prices went through the roof and people curbed their driving. Same as is happening now. That simple.

Fiver wrote:

<quoted text>
But the last time road deaths fell this fast and this sharply was during the Arab oil embargo in 1973-1974, when fatalities tumbled 17 percent, from about 55,100 to 46,000;
Back then, there were no side airbags, no front airbags, and seatbelt usage was virtually unheard of. Fuel prices went through the roof and people curbed their driving. Same as is happening now. That simple.

Back then we had MUSCLE cars so, yes there were less drivers on the road then. We have safer, more fuel efficient autos now that could account for fewer fatalities.

Higher gas prices means people are not driving as much. Not driving as much means they are not on the road as much. Less people driving means less fatalities. Its call common sense, some trolls just don't have it. Common SENSE that is.

If there were less people driving, the prices of gas should be falling along with less fatalities. They are not.

Common sense says Supply and Demand determine prices.....

Where did you buy your common sense, the dollar store??