Joined
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5,120 Posts
A few thoughts...
1) Repealing--even temporarily--gas taxes does nothing. New York State did that back when we were complaining about $1.55/gallon, and distributors almost immediately jacked their prices up, claiming "rising prices." Keeping the taxes in place takes away the distributors' headroom, and also keeps money in the bank to fund road projects, which are already under-funded as it is. New shocks and struts every year cost more than I'd save without the gas taxes.
2) The "slow down to save gas" theory is fuzzy math. Yes, you burn more gas, but you burn it for a shorter period of time. The practical fuel savings is pretty much a wash. I recently had a rental car that displayed instantaneous gas milage. At 75mph, it registered 22 mpg. At 65, it registered 23 mpg. No matter how I altered my highway driving, my average milage stayed within 0.2 mpg over the course of a few days. You'll improve your milage more simply by making sure your tires are properly inflated, and accellerating slowly at intersections.
3) The SUV argument--Those who say "ditch the SUV" obviously forgot what it was like to travel with children (or travel through 18" of snow because the city doesn't plow your neighborhood streets). It is simply not a practicality. There's a reason the family station wagon was a staple in the 70s. My SUV gets 18 mpg. Even if I were to get a car that got twice that milage, by the time I pay for maintenance and insurance--to say nothing of the car itself--my cost savings disappears very quickly.
3a) I could trade the SUV in for a more efficient model, but seeing as how my car is paid for, I'd have to add the car payment (and added insurance costs) to my monthly budget.
My suggestion--buy oil stocks. Get your gas rebate through the back door.
Later,
K
1) Repealing--even temporarily--gas taxes does nothing. New York State did that back when we were complaining about $1.55/gallon, and distributors almost immediately jacked their prices up, claiming "rising prices." Keeping the taxes in place takes away the distributors' headroom, and also keeps money in the bank to fund road projects, which are already under-funded as it is. New shocks and struts every year cost more than I'd save without the gas taxes.
2) The "slow down to save gas" theory is fuzzy math. Yes, you burn more gas, but you burn it for a shorter period of time. The practical fuel savings is pretty much a wash. I recently had a rental car that displayed instantaneous gas milage. At 75mph, it registered 22 mpg. At 65, it registered 23 mpg. No matter how I altered my highway driving, my average milage stayed within 0.2 mpg over the course of a few days. You'll improve your milage more simply by making sure your tires are properly inflated, and accellerating slowly at intersections.
3) The SUV argument--Those who say "ditch the SUV" obviously forgot what it was like to travel with children (or travel through 18" of snow because the city doesn't plow your neighborhood streets). It is simply not a practicality. There's a reason the family station wagon was a staple in the 70s. My SUV gets 18 mpg. Even if I were to get a car that got twice that milage, by the time I pay for maintenance and insurance--to say nothing of the car itself--my cost savings disappears very quickly.
3a) I could trade the SUV in for a more efficient model, but seeing as how my car is paid for, I'd have to add the car payment (and added insurance costs) to my monthly budget.
My suggestion--buy oil stocks. Get your gas rebate through the back door.
Later,
K
