I just went for groceries, and in my little 7 mile loop, I saw two Hummer H2s, and one H1, no doubt doing their errands.
I seriously think this is a case where we recognize that we need rules to restrain ourseleves.
I know folks that who drove big trucks in this town are now using small cars. I have to drive big pickups for my job, but my little truck gets 30 mpg on longer trips, so that's a factor as well. It's the short stop and go that kills you. That and the power steering hose going on you at a choice fishing spot. Ah the joys of being poor in America.
I've been seeing enough trucks with "for sale" signs in the windows that I've been considering a photo gallery.
Driving back from L.A. yesterday over the Grapevine, A Hummer passed me in the right lane doing about 95. Suicidal AND a spendthrift.
My wife keeps saying gas prices still really don't mean anything to people. Except for those who are truly in poverty, I'm beginning to think she's right. If I had a nickel for every SUV that passed me doing 80+ mph on that one trip, I could go buy one myself.
I think gas prices have to go a lot higher before people really start changing their behavior on a broad scale. But part of me also agrees with Odo that the market is flooded with used trucks and people buying cars seem more inclined to buy smaller now.
I wondered if people just haven’t added up what they are spending on gas. Hoping to do some math, I tried to find the average miles driven by California families. I could not get that directly.
I did find this page about 2004 price gouging:
Here’s another telling fact. UCAN has compared Southern California gasoline prices with those charged in the rest of the nation. From February 9 through this past month (March 8th) the difference between the national average and the Southern California average gasoline price is about forty cents a gallon. That means the average Southern California family pays about $22 more each week for gasoline than customers in other states. Over a month that is more than $80 – which again, dwarfs the electricity price increases felt by state consumers during the 2000-2001 California Energy Crisis.
If $0.40 * X = $80 .. they think the average California family buys 200 gallons of gas a month or 2400 a year. At $2.25 a gallon that’s $5400 a year … no, I don’t think people really know they are spending that.
… if anyone has better numbers for family miles we can refine this.
oops, sorry the link was:
http://www.ucan.org/law_policy/g...nts3-26-
04.html
>> ... if anyone has better numbers for family miles we can refine this.
The executive summary at Union of Concerned Scientists' http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehi...cfm?
pageID=1249 bases lifetime fuel cost on "15-year average vehicle lifetime; annual mileage of 15,600 in the first year, declining by 4.5% per year.
http://www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehi....cfm?
pageID=229 says California used the highest fraction of the nations gasoline in 1999, at 11%. TX was 2nd, at 7.9%
More in "Drilling in Detroit" and other links on same page.
I'd guess family miles varies quite a bit, and would have to be considered for each person. Higher mpg would benefit everyone, even non-drivers -- lower costs for delivery, service, etc, less pollution, and other factors. Things would be very different now if the SUV loophole had been fixed in the mid-1980's.
Gas here in Idaho is just about as high. I still get 30 mpg in my little truck.
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