Would you give up leisure driving and your vacation trip in an effort to lower gas prices?

Question

I was recently told by a gas station owner that gas prices are going to steadily climb. He said that everyone is ignorantly allowing the wealthy oil companies the advantage to keep raising the price, by continuing to pay what ever they choose to charge. It is about supply and demand, right? If we do not drive more than absolutly necessary, car pool when possable, and make a few sacrifices on our pleasure trips, that would cut the demand. Would you make these sacrifices? Do you think it would lower the prices?

Answer 1

I think the BEST way to LOWER prices is:

For every community throughout the U.S. To STOP buying Shell (or Chevron) Gas for about 6 months to a year.

The NATION needs to be United on Just ONE gas Company.  That way...ALL the Revenue will go to the OTHER gas company.  After 6 months of LOST Profits, the Other Company will LOWER their Prices....when they start DROPPING and I mean REALLY dropping!  Then switch companies.

Suppliers should not control the prices...the Users should.

For years, I've heard about Supply and Demand.  And right now, the Suppliers are DEMANDING higher prices...I SAY WE Demand Lower Prices by simply FORCING a Price War!

Hope this helps...

Please see my question about the odd item on eBay.  =)

Answer 2

Once gas hit $3/gallon I cut out my leisure driving.  I pay more attention to taking off slowly and not accelerating hard, allowing the car to coast from a greater distance to stops ahead, and avoid downshifts on the highway.  I have recorded fuel economy increases by as much as 4 mpg.  If the cost of gas increased so greatly that flying to vacation destinations is cheaper than the cost of fuel for the trip, I would just fly, but it hasn't gotten to that point with most places I go.  Honestly, if my commute wasn't so far to school and most people got rid of their vehicles and followed suit, I'd seriously replace my car with a moped.  They are cheap on gas, low maintenance compared to car, and require NO insurance.  Sounds great to me!

Answer 3

leisure driving yes, vacationing? h**l no!

Answer 4

Yes, that would definitely lower the prices.

Of course, we need to get around, so we can't totally eliminate driving, but we can reduce it as much as possible.   Try to carpool, combine errands into one trip, etc.

Answer 5

I already am but gass prices have been raised since the 60's the more pricey they get howerver the more likely you should invest money in alternitive fueling like hybrids. Its not realy a massive thing unless the whole nation starts fighting back which sadly it will not realy do or ready to do yet.

Answer 6

YALL know what trains are?  they were invented quite some time before automobiles and they can run on diesel or electricity - electricity is stuff that can be produced without oil.  but anyways trains can move a lot of stuff and people.

Answer 7

If enough people bought less gasoline, it would force the oil companies to lower the prices.

Answer 8

at the current prices it cast 1 dollar into the lake you toss it into to go 1 mile...its bicycle time...

Answer 9

Unfortunatley, I wouldn't!  I love taking leisurley drives all over the place, I realize its bad for the environment but it is something I enjoy very much!

Answer 10

No it would get me fired for not showing up to work.  Nice in theory but not possible

Answer 11

The problem isn't really that we are driving too much (though that is a problem in and of itself) but that:

1) Oil is a finite resource that is getting harder and harder to get out of the ground every day.

2) China, India, and other industrializing nations are starting to use much more oil than they used to, which is pushing up energy prices even further.

3) Our infrastructure here in the US is designed around the use of cars to travel between single use pods of development that are not connected for the convenience of pedestrians and have poor mass transit systems (if any at all)

4) We also use oil to grow our food and make our consumer goods not to mention that we need energy to bring them here from China, more and more of which is being demanded both here in the US and abroad due to a growing world economy (even though ours isn't doing so well right now) and increasingly urban population.

In short: the amount of energy consumed by some leisure driving or a vacation pales in comparison to the amount of energy that you use on a daily basis just going to work and the grocery store.

J.J.: You are very very wrong and I do not understand why people still say this! All that will happen is that the company you choose will either go out of business and be sold to another company or just sell all of their gasoline to another company. This will probably raise prices even further thanks to the energy it takes to get gasoline from one place to another and they wouldn't sell it at a loss... but neither would the company they sell it to. Bad, bad, bad idea.

Answer 12

price wars do not work.  Because, all you would do is force the price of gas at the competing stations to go up, while the boycotted drops to get more customers.  Guess what that means, you are paying more for gasoline because demand went up at competitors. While, those not in the boycott are saving money.

And, even if 100% of the population boycotted one company, the minute you ended the boycott, it would raise the price...

Answer 13

Sadly the whole nation cannot fight back.  Some of us work a long way from home and there is no bus service.. A 40 minute car drive would turn into more than 2 hours using public transport from where I live and only one large town halfway along my journey which is bypassed on the way to work.

I leave home at 7.30 and arrive home not before 7.50 and often after 8pm.  Therefore I have to save my visits for the 2 days I don't work out of 7 to visit my terminally ill daughter who lives an hours drive away. a 2 hour round trip