Pain at the Pump

Posted by Blake Sanders on Mar 15, 2011 in Telegram Past News

As everyone is probably aware of, gas prices have been dramatically rising over the past few years. Increasing gas prices are making it hard for people to fill up their gas tanks and drive their cars. This especially hurts high school students that have to drive themselves to school everyday.

 

Currently, California is the state that has the highest gas prices in the United States. The average price per gallon of gas in California is $3.948. In Dixon, prices range from $3.83 to $4.05 at gas stations that are just across town from each other. Now, twenty-two cents may not seem like that much money, but if you fill up your car with 20 gallons of gas every two weeks, then over the course of a year, you can save quite a bit of money by filling up at the cheaper of the two gas stations.

The national average price per gallon of gas in the United States is $3.529 according to http://fuelgaugereport.aaa.com/?redirectto=http://fuelgaugereport.opisnet.com/index.asp. The average price yesterday was $3.524, a week ago it was $3.427, a month ago it was $3.117, and a year ago it was $2.768. Unfortunately, gas prices are still steadily rising, so it is important to try to make saving gas a habit.

The main reasons why gas prices in California are so high are the additives in the fuel and the extra taxes. Certain things are added into the fuel in California that make it safer for the environment. These additives make the fuel slightly more expensive than normal.

Gas in California is also taxed pretty high compared to other states. Currently, there is a tax of 18 cents per gallon of gas with an additional 6% sales tax on the final sale price of the gas. The highest fuel taxes are actually in Washington, which has a tax of 37.5 cents per gallon of gas with an additional 6.5% sales tax on the final sale price. Although California does not have the highest taxed gas, it still has some of the most expensive gas in the United States.

So now the question is: how does one save as much money as possible at the gas pump? Well, by changing a few driving techniques, you can save a lot of money on gas. By simply avoiding quick acceleration and braking, you can get 33% better gas mileage on the highway and 5% better in town. This accounts for about $0.18 to $1.16 in savings per gallon of gas. Also, removing unnecessary weight, limiting idling, using cruise control, using overdrive gears, and obeying the speed limit will help you save gas and money.

Keeping you car in good condition has also been found to help fuel economy. By keeping your engine in tune, inflating your tires to the proper pressure, and using the correct motor oil, you can get up to 9% better gas mileage.

Driving has become by far the most popular mode of transportation around town, but with increasingly high gas prices, it’s getting harder to keep one’s gas tank filled. With just a few changes to how you drive and maintain your car, you can save a lot of money at the gas pump and keep your car fueled and ready to drive.

For more information, please visit www.californiagasprices.com.