Chattanooga: Motorists feeling less pinched

Over the summer, gas prices were so scary — and the prospect that they would get any lower so bleak — Benjamin Morgan moved closer to school to cut his gas expenses.

“Now that I live on campus, I’m not doing nearly as much driving,” said Mr. Morgan, a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga student who lived on the North Shore. “Over the summer, I started planning my trips better ... and gas factored into my decision to move.”

The Clarksville, Tenn., native said his Nissan Xterra gets about 15 miles per gallon. Earlier this week, he topped off the sport utility vehicle’s tank for $25. During the summer, that same amount of gas would have cost about $70.

All over the country, the drop in gas prices has helped consumers. Each 10-cent drop in gas prices puts $12 billion a year back into consumers’ pockets, according to The New York Times. Chattanooga’s record price for gas was set in September, when regular unleaded sold for $3.98 a gallon. The price hovered around $4 a gallon for most of the summer, AAA reported.

The price reduction is good news for consumers, who say the extra money is needed — especially at the holidays.

“In July, I was never able to fill it up at all,” said Chantell Burt, a Rossville substitute teacher and mother of three. “I pretty much just went to work and back.”

She said she tried to combine her trips, stopping at the grocery store while already on the road.

Kevin Day, a Chattanooga plastic surgeon, said his Honda Element was relatively fuel efficient, and he lives only a short distance from work at Erlanger hospital. But even he’s been able to breathe easier with cheaper fuel.

“I might be more inclined to take a road trip now,” Dr. Day said. “Before, I would have been a little leery of traveling with prices so high.”

Nationally, consumers have reduced fuel consumption by about 5 percent compared to this time last year, said Gregg Laskoski, a spokesman for AAA. Though most motorists interviewed for this story said they planned to travel a little more at the holidays, they likely won’t go back to wasting fuel, Mr. Laskoski predicted.

“I don’t think consumers will fall back on bad habits,” he said. “While the current gas prices are a terrific surprise and it’s great for everyone’s checkbook, these low prices won’t last forever.”

Americans didn’t learn that same lesson in the 1970s during times of fuel shortages and high prices.

“I was a child in the ’70s, and I remember the lines and the recession,” said Lisa Hawkins, of Signal Mountain, who drives a Lexus RX, one of the smaller SUVs.

Because of her memories, she’s not going to switch to a heavy SUV any time soon, even though gas prices now are affordable, she said.

“Those of us who lived in that (time period) take a long-term view and don’t just look at the short term,” she said.

Josh Dorner, a spokesman for the Sierra Club in Washington, D.C., hopes the entire country shares that outlook.

“This has been such a nasty shock. I think the American people understand that, once and for all, we need to do something about our energy dependence,” Mr. Dorner said. “People may take extra trips at the holidays, but they aren’t buying those big SUVs anymore.”