Gas prices 'without a doubt' changing consumer behavior, AAA spokesman explains

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Drivers around the nation are beginning to shift their driving habits in response to soaring gas prices as the White House attempts to present the pain at the pump in a full context.

As of March 19, the national average gas price was $4.26 a gallon. And while that has come down a few pennies from a week ago, U.S. drivers are "without a doubt" making lifestyle changes to adapt to higher fuel costs, Robert Sinclair Jr., the AAA Northeast Public Affairs Senior Manager, told Yahoo Finance Live (video above).

According to a recent AAA survey, 59% of Americans surveyed said they change their driving habits once gas prices cross $4 per gallon. Should the national average rise beyond $5 a gallon — which is already the case in some states — three in four respondents said they would need to make adjustments.

"We're seeing that consumers are having real sticker shock," Vectis Energy Partners Principal Tamar Essner recently said on Yahoo Finance Live. "And the question is: Does the sticker shock translate into actual demand destruction? And we think in certain parts of the economy that's already happening. In certain parts of the world, that already is."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gas-prices-aaa-analyst-145925282.html

[Disaffected]

1. How about

buying smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles. Or electric vehicles if/when prices drop to more affordable levels.

It seems that a lot of folks reacted to the era of more fuel efficient vehicles not by taking advantage of them to reduce fuel costs but to buy a larger vehicle i.e. full size SUVs and pickups.

And maybe talk VW into bringing the ID3 (a sub-compact hatch) to North America and reinstating the Golf for example? The rest of the world is much smarter in that regard than we here.

[gratuitous]

3. It's the Arkansas Traveler syndrome

An old man lives in a cabin with terrible leaks in his roof. A visitor asks him why he doesn't fix the leaks. The old man says it would be foolish to work outside on such a rainy day. So why doesn't he fix the roof when it's not raining? The roof ain't leaking then.

"Gee, we should do something about fuel efficiency in our motor vehicles." "Why? Gas is really cheap!" Price rises a dollar or two a gallon. "Gee we should do something about fuel efficiency in our motor vehicles." "I can barely afford gas as it is, and now you're saying I should buy another car? Madness!"

[Dial H For Hero]

4. How much money does it save people to drive fuel efficient cars?

The average person in America drives around 14,000 miles per year. Let's say someone has a full-sized SUV
which gets 20 mpg on average, which mean they go through 700 gallons of gas per year.

Taking your advice, they replace it with a compact sedan which gets 35 mpg on average, and they now use 400 gallons per year.

If gas goes up by $3 per gallon, they're saving $900 a year. If it only goes up by $1 a gallon, they save $300 a year. Frankly, it's not that large an incentive.

[Disaffected]

6. Maybe not a huge monetary incentive to most but

also consider the environmental impact of driving inefficient vehicles.

[former9thward]

5. No thanks.

I would rather drive a safer vehicle. I have a F150 which is much safer than a smaller car. If you want to trade safety for a few more miles a gallon that is your choice.

[Disaffected]

7. Yabut, keep in mind

that your additional safety is someone else's additional danger. When your F-150 is in a collision with my sub-compact, who comes out the looser?

[former9thward]

8. I have attached an aftermarket heavy duty grill guard so it probably won't be mine.

But really what you are saying is that we should trade safety for fuel efficiency. I won't do that. There will always be bigger vehicles on the road. Trucks, buses, delivery vehicles, etc.

[Disaffected]

9. Great - now a head-on will demolish my vehicle

even more effectively.

Some vehicles are larger because they have to be. No-one needs to drive a full sized pickup just to travel from A to B.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. A complete fill up costs me an extra $10. I drive a LOT because of my business.

I fill up about twice a week. That's an extra $20 a week. It is not the mega disaster the news is portraying it to be.
It DOES give people something to bitch about.

[Raine]

10. I sure hope that the drivers around here change their habits. The neighborhood is sick of those

using the roads here for drag racing. Hopefully the cost of gas will cool their racing fever before then end up killing other people.