Photo by Cyfer13. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Before gas prices began soaring skyward, it had often been suggested that an artificial increase to the price of gas could have the effect of forcing consumers to purchase more fuel efficient vehicles and could keep people from making frivolous trips. It's now safe to say those projections were likely true. Now that fuel prices are what they are, more people are choosing hybrids and other fuel efficient models, and some are even choosing two wheels over four. Additionally, Jeff Rubin, chief economist at CIBC World Markets, projects that $7.00 per gallon of gas could potentially remove ten-million vehicles from roadways in the United States alone. What's more, Rubin predicts that by 2012, the average miles driven will drop by as much as fifteen-percent.
Interestingly, Rubin compares U.S. driving habits with those of individuals living in Britain. Statistics show that ninety-percent of American drivers commute every day to work in an automobile, while only sixty-percent of British workers do the same. Fuel prices in America, though rising, have yet to match those that many European countries have seen for years.
[Source: The Detroit Free Press]
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