Awesome! Someone gets it right.

Uneasy Rhetoric — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:27:13 +0000

In my never ending quest to bust the chops of each and every “ways to save gas” list that doesn’t list “drive less” or “walk more” as a way, I give you this list of 29 ways to save gas. Check out numbers 25 and 26:

Drive less

Here comes the discussion we don’t like to read as much.

Carpool
25. Well, if two people are riding in a car, the gas used per person is immediately cut into half. If 4 people are sharing a ride, their individual gas bill becomes only one third. Since they can now use carpool lanes, they won’t have to spend as much time in traffic (idle engines use gas too) and get an even better gas mileage, plus they get home sooner. Its not always feasible though.

Combine Trips
26. Try to combine trips. If you live outside of town, try to go into town only once and get everything you need done.

These options are still too far down on the list, but the fact that they make a list at all, and on a travel site no less, melts the polar ice caps of my heart.

How to stretch gas dollars.

Uneasy Rhetoric — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 02:58:45 +0000

If you’re like 146 percent of drivers in the United States, you probably belong to AAA and you probably get their magazine, Via. I’ve been a AAA Magazine reader since I was old enough to read because, even though the writing is usually mediocre, it was a good way to dream about places I’d never seen. When I became a AAA member myself, I became a part of the proud eight percent of members (not an exaggeration) who support raising gas taxes. But I digress.

The May/June issue has a feature called “How to Stretch your Gas Dollars.” I’ll summarize for you: don’t drive like a maniac, tune up your car, shut off when you idle (I hate this one), clean your trunk, and don’t use the Ronco patented gas genie. You know what’s missing, don’t you?

Of course you do. I wouldn’t be writing about this list if it weren’t missing.

DRIVE LESS.

I’m sorry for shouting, but even a magazine dedicated to driving should understand that the single best way to stretch gas dollars is not to drive around searching for gas that is five cents per gallon cheaper. It is about not driving at all. People like me will continue to drive for pleasure because that’s the way we were raised. But when I get to where I’m going, you can bet I’ll walk as much as I can. There’s no shame in that, and AAA should start taking that angle when they try to tell people how to save money on gas.

Here’s the best part: if Americans seriously tried to drive less, we’d probably see gas prices fall a little. It’s basic supply and demand.

Uneasy Rhetoric » driving

Awesome! Someone gets it right.

How to stretch gas dollars.