it took gas prices to go to 5 dollars before

[Twiddle]

SUV owners who drive exclusively in cities started to feel any actual regret over their purchase

still doesn't stop them from hoping it'll get better

[Bonemaster969]

I never understood why people love SUVs so much. In urban areas, it seems like a nightmare to drive them, atleast for me it was. Besides, they're ugly.

As for gas prices, I don't really think $4.30 is all THAT bad. I only pay $20 to fill up my mustang every week.

[Alec]

man, the other day i seen a chevy tahoe hybrid in the parking lot. i couldn't fucking believe it. i bet i still got better gas mileage.

[Ed Oscuro]

Gas prices are causing:

- Americans to drive, in the aggregate, .4% (4/1000s rite) less than before
AMAZING

- Americans to fritter away any savings on gas caused by people making MORE TRIPS to the gas pumps to put in less gas every time so they can feel special (like smoking your daily carton of cigarettes but putting each cigarette out halfway through and then lighting it again, or something)

- More roadside strandings for some obscure reason

That said, I saw a car get pushed down the road IN BERLIN. Young couple had it, the lady behind the wheel and the guy sheepishly pushing.

Until now, I had assumed all the cars I've seen stranded on the highway broke down...how naive of me. In my defense, the cars that look like they're about to fall apart are usually the ones that run outta gas, because their owners are cash-strapped.

[Alec]

the cars that look like they're about to fall apart are usually the ones that run outta gas, because their owners are cash-strapped.

i ran out of gas a bunch of times. then that car fell apart. i dont run out of gas anymore.

[trivial]

My junked Accord prolly has $10 worth of 2001's cheaper gas. I don't want that cheap gas anymore. Must be a terrist/investor, I'm speculating.

Investerrorist.

[iatneH]

I never understood why people love SUVs so much. In urban areas, it seems like a nightmare to drive them, atleast for me it was. Besides, they're ugly.

Because you want to be the one in the higher vehicle weight class in that inevitable collision as you drive around the little peons in their little sedans.

[Neon]

My junked Accord prolly has $10 worth of 2001's cheaper gas. I don't want that cheap gas anymore. Must be a terrist/investor, I'm speculating.

Investerrorist.

step 1 - soak rag in gasoline

step 2 - insert rag in gastank of junked Accord

step 3 - asplosion

edit - you don't even have to light it, it's just magic.

[JoshF]

http://www.muzic.com/frames.php?target= ... sting/4974

[trivial]

magic

Evaporation? I don't have that kind of time, I have to return the cement blocks to the rental place. It's incentivizing my rebate check.

[VNAF Ace]

I'm not fond of SUVs, but you guys should realize that some people need a larger car because they have to carry more people around (such as their kids) and/or more cargo.

[Twiddle]

Yeah that's understandable but there are these people who drive by themselves and go around the city in an SUV and that happens way more often than the SUV carrying a wife and 4 kids combo

[VNAF Ace]

Well, many people usually drive alone. Some people may only be able to afford one car so they pretty much have to drive their SUV if that's the only car they own. Personally, I have no problem with people who drive SUVs. However, I do have a problem with people who can't drive anything.

[Ceph]

In Europe, 1 gallon (3.8 liters) costs around 8.82 USD. Americans complaining about high gas prices make me laugh.

Be that as it may, the problem will solve itself soon enough. In less than 50 years there will be no more oil left (which is going to be a real bummer, because we need it for all sorts of products). People are going to kick themselves for having been stupid enough to burn it all up.

[GaijinPunch]

In Europe, 1 gallon (3.8 liters) costs around 8.82 USD.

I knew a German would come in here and rant... but rightfully so. When our office moved from Tokyo to Hawaii, we were all bitching about gas prices (most of us had been living abroad and not driving for 5+ years). We had a guy from East Germany who said we were all babies. I guess he was right.

People are going to kick themselves for having been stupid enough to burn it all up.

I may be the best example on the planet. When I lived in Hawaii, I drove 200 miles a month. I cycle most of the time now, and even try not to take cabs unless absolutely necessary. I should pat myself on the back.

[Frederik]

I´m glad we have proper public transport in most major european cities. I´ve lived entirely without a car (and a drivers license) so far (like my parents), and that wasn´t so much an ideological thing as it just wasn´t necessary.

I sincerely hope the car-centric way of live, with its strip malls, dead suburbs and urban sprawl will die out, even though the US is completely built around heavy car usage. (I´ve read something about how General Motors actively killed public transport in many cities by buying and then dismantling it in the fifties or something.) Occasionally I get the impression that having to take the bus is something shameful to US citizens in certain regions, because only the poor are using them. That this car-dependent lifestyle has something very isolating and alienating about it - it keeps you away from other people as much as possible. Not to speak about how apparently many people change into raving idiots once behind a steering wheel.

But anyways, people are extremely resistant to change and not giving up on their luxury if they really, REALLY have to

[kozo]

My gas sipping '91 Honda was in bad shape for a bit - we ended up getting it fixed - and during that time we simply walked almost everywhere.

It was fun, it was free, it was good for our bodies, and it was safer (imho)

I know everyone can't do that, but it has made massive improvements in my life and I recommend it to those who can pull it (or bikes, trains, buses, scooters, etc.) off.

[trivial]

car-centric way of live

As you say, gentrification can help account for this, but what made everyone decide that semi trucks are better than trains and river barges? Can't get around that one by choosing to walk.

[Acid King]

SUVs are nice if you live somewhere with a lot of inclement weather and you have to drive. I've never understood why people in cities would drive them. I got stuck with one because it was the cheapest option available to me after my sister totalled my old one, since my elder sister was unloading hers for cheap. I burn probably 8 or 9 dollars worth of gas just driving to work and back home. Thankfully I only work 4 nights a week.

Occasionally I get the impression that having to take the bus is something shameful to US citizens in certain regions, because only the poor are using them. That this car-dependent lifestyle has something very isolating and alienating about it - it keeps you away from other people as much as possible.

The problem with the States isn't the cities, since most cities have perfectly functional public transportation systems, it's the fact that a majority of the country is rural and public transportation systems aren't really feasible. I would have to walk close to 7 miles to get to the nearest bus stop, and that wouldn't help me much since that bus service only runs to three cities. Not to mention the fact that I couldn't get a bus to work because bus service stops when I'm going to work.

[JoshF]

I thought Rabbit goes to your house if you call them. Maybe it was some other service.

[D]

Netherlands
1 litre = 1,72 euro
1 gallon = 3,78541178 littres
1 euro = 1,55 USD

10.10 USD, so our prices are double of what the emerikanz have to pay
Cars cost almost triple of what they cost in the States!

But our gas prices are also increasing. So what do truck drivers do to protest against the government? they block the public by driving 50 km/hour on the highway which will lead to huge traffic jams.

Funny how people who have issues always take it out on other people and not the government. Same with war people are dumb animals.

[benstylus]

I never understood why people love SUVs so much. In urban areas, it seems like a nightmare to drive them, atleast for me it was. Besides, they're ugly.

Businesses get a huge tax break for vehicles over a certain weight - a lot of small business owners here buy an SUV in the name of the business just because it's cheaper after the tax writeoffs than getting a sedan.

[professor ganson]

I do feel bad for people who lose their job in this time of adjustment to higher prices-- the effects on the economy are widespread, obviously. But this adjustment time was inevitable, and I'm willing to bet that the benefits overall will outweigh the sacrifices. It's just better when people don't drive as much. Better for the environment, obviously. But better for quality of life as well. And fewer accidents. I live just over 1 mile from work, and that's great in so many ways.

[Ed Oscuro]

trivial: That's right, you'r junked car's gas is probably all shellaced and nasty now. You'd have to add an additive to it.

In Europe, 1 gallon (3.8 liters) costs around 8.82 USD. Americans complaining about high gas prices make me laugh.

In Europe the governments pick the energy winners without asking the markets...HAY GAIZE I HURD DIESEL WUZ GR8 LET'S TAX THE FUCK OUTTA EVERYTHING ELSE ^________^

I agree that it's a workable strategy for getting people to be less energy-dependent, but now the EU is going to do it with alternative energy too. Let the market work, darnit...

Also: NUCLEAR POWERED CARS (and elevators, Frank Lloyd Wright style)

[Twiddle]

Well, many people usually drive alone. Some people may only be able to afford one car so they pretty much have to drive their SUV if that's the only car they own. Personally, I have no problem with people who drive SUVs. However, I do have a problem with people who can't drive anything.

Like street racers?

I'm more concerned that it took the five dollar border to get people really thinking about how much they're driving and how much gas the car uses.

Though the situation turned around in the 80s when across-the-board fuel efficiency laws and tax breaks for more efficient cars were starting to be enforced (which were mostly undone earlier this decade in a fit of neoconservative brilliance ) it isn't going to happen this time around until every industrialized and semi-industrialized country in the planet does the same thing again, and such a process will be costly to everyone not squarely in the realm of the first-world.

[BulletMagnet]

In Europe, 1 gallon (3.8 liters) costs around 8.82 USD. Americans complaining about high gas prices make me laugh.

We should be complaining about our "innovative" auto makers instead, who couldn't be bothered to give people more efficient vehicles, and decided instead to pretend that gas would be cheap forever and flood the market with fuel-guzzling behemoths (and, granted, it's shameful how many people were dumb enough to fall for it). Heck, even now they can only be persuaded to take baby steps when it comes to alternative-fuel vehicles and better performance for petroleum-based ones - if they end up going bankrupt, they're going to deserve it (though not all of their laid-off workers, who will be kicked to the curb as their higher-ups pocket millions in golden parachutes and other job offers, won't). Europe's gas is more expensive (if nothing else, they've discovered that playing make-believe can only take a society so far), but they don't have to fill up nearly as often as we do.

[Lordstar]

I never understood why people love SUVs so much. In urban areas, it seems like a nightmare to drive them, atleast for me it was. Besides, they're ugly.

Businesses get a huge tax break for vehicles over a certain weight - a lot of small business owners here buy an SUV in the name of the business just because it's cheaper after the tax writeoffs than getting a sedan.

A lot of businesses get tax breaks on company cars and a lot of it is about milking the tax for all its worth. In the UK a lot of businesses never make money becuase as soon as you start making some sort of turn over you get tax raped up the ass and its all about buying things which you get tax breaks on and such.

I was able to get my current PC as a work expense since over 80% of the time im doing work on it. I want to get a big HDTV and use that as a monitor so I will also consider buying that through my business. . . . My car? Well I cant drive but I would love something Japanese and sporty since ive never had anything of my own. I cant see myself buying a SUV ever mostly because I dont want to be tagged as one of the fucks who hog the road and drink petrol like a fish in water. I mean if you have that many kids just get a Minibus and if you dont have that many kids just get a large four door and get over it already. Really are too many silly women on the road in these huge fucking things and the only reasons I can think of is because it makes them feel safe and its an image thing.

Well they can piss off becuase the only reason why they dont feel safe in a small car is becuase they cant drive and they dont have the confidence so they would rather be the bigger veichell in the accident. Image is image I can understand that but I would not want that type of car speaking for who i am.

[FIL]

Bet all those European Escalade and H2 drivers are regretting their purchase now. 10mpg at $8 a gallon has to hurt.

[bay]

Until now, I had assumed all the cars I've seen stranded on the highway broke down...how naive of me. In my defense, the cars that look like they're about to fall apart are usually the ones that run outta gas, because their owners are cash-strapped.

i was out in LA years ago and on the radio they were talking about people driving till they run out of gas, since the road workers (funded by the government of course) would give 1 free gallon of gas to those stuck on the side of the road.

it's amazing what (i believe at that time) 3ish dollars would do to someone.

[doodude]

Whadya think?

http://www.warriorsfortruth.com/alaska-oil-anwar.html