Well, in order to add another perspective to the blog, I asked my friend Era Circunstancio again to write an article on rising gas prices, and how it is affecting his and other drivers driving habit. I have already written two articles on record high gas prices, including Rising Gas Prices, and High Oil Prices - Lifestyle Changes. If you have any tidbits that you would like to share, please do so, and use the comments form to tell us how record high gas prices is affecting you.
Author: Era Circunstancio
Title: Gas Prices and Their Effect on Driving Behavior
Published: 6/11/2008
Summer is here, and once again, people are mobilized to go out and enjoy it. Down the street from where I live, a new Sonic fast-food restaurant opens. It's the first of its kind in the area, so people are eager enough to wait in long car lines just to try some of the food. One night I decide to go try it for myself. The time is 11 p.m., and although it may seem late, the stalls are packed. I'm lucky enough to be the next car in line. The attendant asks whether I want to eat in a stall or use the drive-thru. I consider my options and decide for a stall. Even though the drive-thru may have been quicker, I decide that if I take the stall I can be sure to waste less gas by turning off the car's engine while I wait. At $4 a gallon, any way of saving gas seems like the better choice.
Similar choices, however minor they may seem, are being made across the nation. A trip to the supermarket to buy milk is stripped from the day's task if eggs will be needed the next day. The drive to the post office becomes a walk down to the corner mailbox. Farther restaurants are traded for closer, though not as exquisite, restaurants—better yet, home-cooking to avoid driving altogether. Some people are even considering making greater changes in their lifestyles, such as taking the bus or riding a bike to work, carpooling, or buying the latest gas-efficient hybrid. Whatever changes people are making, there's a growing consensus that cheap gas prices will never return. The days of wasting gas in such care-free manners are gone, and to take their place, anxiety.
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