High gas prices keep us closer to home

By David W. Kuhns Sr., Northwest Guardian

I remember reading an article decades ago that speculated about how expensive gasoline would have to get to induce Americans to significantly alter the way they drive. I don’t remember the figure the author gave, but I think we might have reached the real tipping point.

The high cost certainly affects us all, but, perhaps we can find a silver lining in this dark cloud.

From my entirely unscientific observations, it seems that gas for more than $4 a gallon is just too much for a lot of people to deal with.

Look at the ads in the newspaper. Auto dealers are offering great deals on massive SUVs and full-sized pick-ups. They have to; nobody is buying those gas guzzling monsters. But hybrid drive vehicles are flying off the lots as soon as they arrive.

Summer is here and last weekend we had beautiful weather, but for the first time in decades, the roads weren’t clogged with RVs.

We drove from Tumwater to Fort Lewis Saturday without passing a single RV. I wouldn’t have thought that possible. But with gas at the current price and diesel even worse, who can afford to drive one of those land yachts unless it is really necessary.

Think about it. If you drive a 30-foot RV getting eight miles to the gallon, a 1,000-mile vacation trip is going to cost you more than $600, just for fuel. That would make for a very pricey weekend getaway.

The fishing would have to be very good, indeed.

When I was young, the Sunday afternoon drive was an American ritual. Families often spent the day out on the road, just driving around. A destination wasn’t important. It was the joy of the road, the wind through the window, the sight of new scenery that attracted us. With gas at 29 cents a gallon it was a cheap way to entertain the family.

Aimless driving holds a lot less allure now. A tank of gas might hit your wallet for $60 or $70. It’s cheaper to take the family to the movies.

So, more and more of us are looking at ways to alter our habits, just to save at the pump.

Things that seemed unacceptable in the past have a lot more appeal. Car pooling in 2006 seemed too inconvenient. In 2008, it looks better and better to a lot of people.

The state police have reported that people on the Interstate are slowing down, just to save on gas. Of course, some drivers are also practicing extreme tailgating in an effort to “draft” behind others and save on mileage — a dangerous, and illegal way to save.

Most people, I suspect, are just doing what I do. You pause and think about the cost before you jump in the car. We can all do more to save on fuel. Just dropping our speed can have a major impact. Admit it — many of us routinely drive beyond the speed limit. Just dropping that down to the posted speed can have a major impact on effective mileage. We can also drive with greater care — slower starts, more measured braking, turning the engine off rather than idling for extended periods.

All those common sense measures can save us on our fuel bills — and they do more than that, too.

All the things we do to save our wallets also help reduce the pollution we put into the air. When we cut down on unnecessary trips, we also reduce congestion on the roads. And perhaps by staying closer to home we will build a greater feeling of community.

I think we would all love to see the price of gas drop. But, in the mean time, we can take some comfort from knowing that the effects of high prices aren’t all bad.