Modern Vespa

From the Associated Press: A great silver lining in the gas prices cloud.

Al

That IS good news. Still, I wonder if some form of gasoline rationing is in our not-too-distant-future.

Talking heads on the money shows have a different take on things with many/most saying that the market will move up >12K before year's end despite gas prices and mortgage problems. This after the taxpayers bail out the hoi polloi who started this whole ball rolling a few years back.

Didn't see our great state among those with a decline in fatalities mentioned in that article, but that's not surprising.

I believe we'd only see rationing if supply was the primary problem.

That's not to say supply isn't a problem - certainly we're competing with sharply increased demand from growing economies in places like China and India - but speculation and the weakness of the U.S. dollar contribute to the high prices along with the supply/demand issues.

If you're thinking '70s-style "rationing" I'm guessing that's not a near-term probability. Price has suppressed demand somewhat, many underlying fundamentals are different now, there isn't an actual "embargo", and so I don't think that will be how things play out. (But I'm no economist and the old crystal ball is kinda foggy...but at least from what I see in the press in the way of analysis that doesn't seem to be on the horizon.)

For California I wonder if we'll see the hands-free law working in tandem with folks cutting back on driving to lower the highway death rate.

(Edited to correct typos only....it was late.)

I'd be remiss if I didn't say that, IMHO, supply will become an increasingly severe problem as time goes on. But, no, we won't be facing a seventies-style embargo that will be the catalyst. Instead, it will probably be a situation prompted by the folly of those factions that resist restoring US oil production to pre-1970 levels. Picken's web site & TV ad appear to have the facts straight, so I am expecting we will all be seeing shortages long before the new technologies will extricate us from this predicament.

Meanwhile, the decline in traffic deaths that the bump in prices provides may be offset by crimes being committed on those who still have gas. This may be sooner than any of us would like to think.

Oh, we're in absolute agreement here! And just like watching a wreck in slow motion, we've known for years this problem was coming.

I find it interesting how vilified people like Jimmy Carter (end dependence on foreign oil) and then CA governer Jerry Brown (lower expectations) were back in the day because they had the nerve to tell the American people that our consumption levels and the associated "lifestyles" were not sustainable.

I don't mean to turn this into any kind of a political discussion. No matter what anybody thinks about these two gentlemen over all, they did try to deliver a message that nobody wanted to hear, and we as a society would have benefited from listening 30 years ago. Sure there were efforts made to improve automobile gas mileage, for example, but accompanied by exploitation of the clever loophole of delivering an entire class of vehicle to the buying public that got around those standards by being truck-based. (I mean really, Expeditions, Escalades, Hummers...just what the average family needs.)

Anyway, painful as the pricing is, if it wakes us up it will have served a useful purpose. (I'm just not counting on it doing so.)

Interesting post for sure and wonder if some of the lower traffic deaths are also due to fact that some folks are actually slowing down as speed is a big contributor in cause of acc/death.

I wish companies would actually switch to 4 day work weeks, flextime and offer more ability to telecommute instead of just talking about it. That would also help the pollution / oil use / traffic deaths issue.

Let's hope so! Since Baton Rouge has the distinction of having one of the highest per-capita incidence of hit-and-run accidents in the country, I keep my driving in both auto & on scooter to a minimum in the hopes that my wife & I are as safe as possible. Shopping trips are made at times when most people are still in bed so as to maximize our safety. All scooter rides are taken just after dawn to avoid much of the morning rush hour traffic.

Speeding around here appears to remain de rigeur despite the high gas prices.

I hear all this talk about how people are cutting back on their driving, but I don't see it. I'm a truck driver, and I drive all over the country.

There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not sitting in traffic with a ton of cars with only one person in it. It doesn't matter what size the car is either. The funny thing is, I rarely see more than one person in a big-ass SUV.

I wonder what the magic number is, that will make people seriously change their driving habits. Four dollars per gallon sure isn't doing it. Maybe six dollars will do it, but I'm doubtful.

It's comin'.

Prices have fallen slightly here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7518516.stm

Totally. Think about this - you hear about how Americans are spending less time driving - not going on vacations, consolidating their errand trips so they don't have to drive as much, etc.

Isn't it likely there are just less cars on the road which would lead to less traffic accidents and less death and not necessarily the case that people are just driving slower and safer?

Doesn't mean that there's a better chance you won't get plowed into on the road by someone driving like an idiot ...it just means there's slightly fewer idiots on the road.

I read an article online about rising fuel prices in Norway. The party in power pushed for significant taxes on gas to encourage driving less to assist with climate-change/global-warming efforts. Now it looks like they'll take it on the chin in the next election as Norwegian citizens (irate about the price increases and the fact that Norway is 5th in the world in oil production-seemingly without benefit to her citizens) are 70% in favor of reducing gas taxes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080722/bs_afp/norwayoilpricetaxclimate;_ylt=AoOl6njdmxE0.RDiU0AMHLGs0NUE

It would be an awe-inspiring surprise if gas taxes were to be reduced here but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Jim in London: Let us know what petrol prices are like in, say, 18 months.

Just heard on the radio:

California alone, consumes more fossil fuel than any other country in the world. That is not a typo. It was said that California consumes more fuel than every other state in the USA combined.

Oh ya, I think there are less folks on the road which the OP noted in posting the article and agree I was just say'n maybe it's speed also that can help but not everyone is slowing down that's for sure. I would say less folks is better than slower dumb fucks out there on the roads who want to take me down.

Any great news that might cheer up those of us that have to heat our homes this winter?

I know, I'm afraid of the upcoming heating costs (natural gas for this boi) and will just have to move my bed in front of the fireplace this year.

ummmm....Phoenix is full of foreclosures that you could pick up for cheap and my company is actually growing (amazingly, people buy more insurance when the economy sucks) so I am sure you could get a job??......????.....

Well, I think the article just answered its own question there.

It's a shame we're not seeing a similar thing here in Australia. As petrol prices rise, people just complain louder. A recent poll showed that nearly 80% of people think the Government should take direct action to lower petrol prices (i.e. by cutting taxes on fuel).

People won't consider driving less or using more fuel efficient vehicles until all other options are exhausted. Until then, they will just continue to demand that something be done.

It is great news.

If Cali is using that much fuel why aren't they looking to drill a field right off their coast and keep it for themselves? Imagine if just that thing happened how much the price per barrel would drop for the rest of the nation.

I'm just sayin...

NIMBO (not in my back ocean)

Harv

ps the truth is we should conserve anyway. Everyone knows I'm not a believer in a real oil shortage but at the same time I am a believer in how much less of everything else we would use and throw away. Less garbage, less in landfills, less in the air. All regardless of what the economy is doing to the individual pocketbook. Just conserving because its the right thing to do.

i saw something on the news about this. they said the reason for the drop in auto deaths was less people on the road, people driving slower to try to conserve gas but the biggest reason was the decline in teenage driving. i forgot the statistics but teen driving related deaths was the most significant drop. they say teens just don't have the funds to fill up their tanks.

There could also be some good long-term news here: As people stop driving old fuel guzzlers, and buy newer, safer cars with better MPGs, that would also help a lot.

Seems fuel economy is on everyone's mind these days.....

In the next town over, if you buy a Nissan Titan, they will give you a Nissan Sentra.

To put in the back and use like a lifeboat?

It does seem as if people around here are driving more slowly.

I'm also not seeing as many Hummers on the road, and I pass a dealer on my way to the office.

There are still a few aggressive a**holes still out there, but now they are really standing out.

I hope this is not just wishful thinking!

Everyone I've talked to keeps telling me this is silly, but I swear it's not. We have a 1 bedroom apartment on the third floor and in the winter time I turn the heat down in the rest of the house and we go to the bedroom where we close the door and use an electric oil-filled radiator. If you turn down your furnace to a respectable level and just heat one room it will save some money every month.

I also live on the third floor floor of a 3 floor walk-up and heat rises, so that helps in the winter, too.

What we really need to curb highway deaths is a higher tax on alcohol! Less drinking because it's too expensive will reduce accidents, insurance costs, unwanted pregnancies and divorces!!! It's the perfect social engineering program!

no no no!

i drink, but i NEVER drive if i'm drinking. don't penalize the social drinkers with a higher tax because of the morons that drink and drive!

Would this be like when they raise the price of smokes to curb smokers from lighting up??? That seems to have worked.

Lets just hike the tax up on fuel. That'll keep the drunks off the streets.
~El Josh AKA Ruby

... I hope people caught my sarcasm... though there's a bit of truth hidden in it...

We can tax alcohol, cigarettes, fatty foods, pornography, and lawyers... that should cover about all of the major vices.

that stuff is as american as apple cupcake!

I heard on the news either last night or this morning that congress is thinking of raising gas taxes 10 cents a gallon after the first of the year. Evidently they are feeling the pinch with the cut in gas sales. Taxes per gallon are now 18.3 cents a gallon...that's a pretty big hike. We should all write them and either tell them no way or way to go!

pie?!?!?! does the forum automatically change the word P I E to pie? that is hilarious! i've never typed that word in my life!

You mean we might have to pay more taxes on our gas - hmmm, maybe it's an evil plot to bring us a little closer to our brothers and sisters accross the pond...

Damn, the tax thing hasn't worked for me yet with the ciggy use - still smoking but trying to break the habit for the upteenth time in my life!

The forum does change the word P I E to pie. I love it when someone does throw up 'apple p i e' and is shows up as 'apple pie' - makes my day when that happens.

I've known about the P I E substitution for a while...but does anybody know the why of that substitution? Some early, controversial dessert thread? Enquiring minds want to know!

ya, i just laughed my ass off! i still smoke too (ugh), still tip a few back and STILL live in CT who taxes the hell out of everything. and i'm not well to do by any means. i should move to europe. my family is still in italy and a lot of europeans smoke. here, depending on where you are, they act as though your smoking a crack pipe when you light up.

You know, have also wondered to myself on pie use and how/why it was started - somebody must have thrown up the p i e word one too many times. I'm thinking this was started pre-MV Bot days so I can't blame the bot for its attempt at humor.

I was curious about that myself. Also, is there a list of moderated words?

Oh I caught it. I'm just waiting for the government to figure out a way to tax sex. I'll be screwed.
~El Josh AKA Ruby