Are we just whining about gasoline costs?

Question

People keep buying more fuel inefficient vehicles. I have neighbors with driveways full of SUVs and trucks. Even their teenagers drive to school in big gas guzzlers.

Over the holiday weekend, I saw a lot of people driving 80-90 mph. There are very few vehicles that get good mileage at these speeds.

The quality of the gasoline is about the same regardless of brand. Many people will not cross the street to save five cents per gallon. Why should the dealers lower prices??

This is a free country and people can do as they please. But if you are not part of the solutiuon, maybe you are the problem.

Answer 1

If you want to talk about comparing fuel prices in other countries, you should just compare prices between states.

I live in Michigan, where the averige price for fuel is $3.45/gal (and I wish I could find it for that low). But, there are other states (New Jersey, South Carolina) that are paying under $3.00/gal.

Now, I drive 50 miles one way to work. My place of work is located near the Ohio border (average price for fuel $3.25/gal) One thing that I've noticed is that the people who live in Michigan, have started driving 65-70 mph on the freeway at the point where their vehicle gets the optimum fuel economy. Yet, I still see people from Ohio and Ontario who fly by everyone else doing 80 mph.

Now, teenagers will always drive like a bat out of hell, but with high prices, it's starting to effect people. Once prices return to $3.30 or less, people are going to start driving faster, and there in turn getting worse fuel economy.

And as a note about fuel quality, different companies add different additives which affects the quality of the gasoline. But it's so close that if you're vehicle is at good operating condition, you're not going to notice a difference.

Answer 2

i am a conservative and i am not against ALL welfare. welfare has it's place, but it needs to be administered sparingly and as an emergency. not because i have no heart, but because i know if i sit in the living room and have my food brought ot me, i will stop making the trip myself. i am not against welfare so much because it takes my money, but because it isn't the right answer, the right answer is to get the person over the issue, not pave the way for the issue to continue. secondly..i am not for farm subsidies, or only to a limited basis. whenever you subsidize, you are tricking the market and there is a price to pay somewhere else, i am for things living and dying on their own merit..if the product is impoprtant enough, it will make it, a way will be found, if not, it wasn't a viable product, but there are times (when you are dealing with the food supply of the nation) where you may have to help out. the line about the percentage of the budget that welfare takes is not that much is a flawed argument. your dollar in the bank is not much either, i could take it and you wouldn't notice it being gone...if 10,000 of us all take a dollar, it means something. the government is full of "1 percent" issues..if those are controlled, the whole thing is controlled...and sometimes you do have to look at the actual amount and not just percentage.

Answer 3

I agree. There are many fuel-efficient, 30+ MPG vehicles available whether you're looking for a car, truck, or SUV. I get 32 MPG out of my Cavalier, and I couldn't be happier driving it. I just bought a new Hyundai Elantra for my girlfriend that gets 40 MPG, and it's a sleek, fast car, loaded with all the power options and luxuries. But they'd rather just complain about the prices and stick with the beefy, inefficient engines.

Answer 4

People bellyache about rising gas prices, but spend $5. at Starbucks for a dinky little cup of coffee so they can look "cool"

or spend $2.50 for a little bottle of dang WATER!

I guess we just need something to whine about all the time. I remember whining when gas went from 34 cents to 49 cents a gallon.

Answer 5

I agree.

It's not as though this price rise was unpredictable.

If the whiners think it is bad now, they are really going to be sobbing when the price rises to $5.00 or $6.00 a gallon. Meanwhile, are any of them actually doing something to insulate themselves from the effects of the next jump?

Answer 6

yes we are alot of countries pay more per gallon than we do but hey i ride a motorcycle leave me out of the problem part lol

Answer 7

I ain't.I have a 80s model German diesel which burns free waste vegetable oils.

Answer 8

Remember when the war was for saddam and bin laden???

Well now it is a oil war.

Thank GWB for that - his daddy too.

Answer 9

I totally agree with you