MOFB’s Cut to the Chase: Gasoline and diesel must be too cheap

Nearly every one complains about fuel prices – both gasoline and diesel fuel reached record highs nationwide, and the prospect of any major reduction in price is dim. With all the finger-pointing going on in the media, it seems we are trying to find someone to blame for the high fuel prices.

I am paying the same high price at the pump as everyone else, but it is my observation gasoline and diesel fuel are not too expensive at all, but instead too cheap. My conclusion is based strictly upon my observation of people’s driving habits – if fuel prices are too high, why do we blatantly waste so much?

For example, pull away from a stoplight with cars in adjacent lanes and it is all but a drag race to see who can be first to the next stoplight. Or driving down the highway, have you ever been passed by a car going well above the speed limit only to have them pull in front of you and brake hard in order to use the exit ramp? These driving methods are not only terrible for fuel economy, but also dangerous.

Then there are parking lots where drivers circle the asphalt jungle like vultures searching for the closest possible parking space to the entrance of the store instead of just parking in the first available space, shutting the engine down and walking a few extra steps to the store.

It is also common to see people sitting in parked cars with their engines running to keep the air-conditioning going, and not too uncommon to see parked cars with engines running with no one in the car at all. Even worse are the drivers who let their engine run as they pump fuel into the gas tank – excuse me?

Driving the speed limit saves fuel, but the vast majority of American drivers do not obey the speed limit. The next time you take a trip, drive the speed limit and count the number of cars you pass and the number that pass you – if you drive the speed limit it seems as if you are impeding the traffic flow.

Drive-thru restaurants and banks are convenient, but most people keep their cars and trucks running while waiting in line to avoid going inside to take care of business – it is a terrible waste of fuel. We do not have to look too far to see who is responsible for fuel waste – all we have to do is simply adjust our rearview mirrors to see who is behind the steering wheel of our own cars.

It is estimated by correcting our aggressive and wasteful driving habits we could improve our gas mileage by 20-30%. If we stopped to fill up and there were two gas pumps selling the same gasoline but at different prices – one charging $4 a gallon and the other charging $2.80 a gallon, which would we choose? In essence, this is a choice we can make.

(Denny Banister, of Jefferson City, is the assistant director of public affairs for the Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization.)