Gas prices and summer vacations
By Staff
Johnny Mack Morrow
As Memorial Day fades into memory and the summer weather starts to kick in with a vengeance, thoughts of summer travel begin. Beating the swelter with some time at a lake or beach is a time honored solution to the heat, and that is why summer is the "driving season."
However, with gas prices at an all time high many of us have to incorporate driving costs into our vacation plans for the first time in a while, and the outlook is not good.
AAA estimated that there would be less people traveling over Memorial Day weekend than last year, the first decrease since they started tracking it in 2000. AAA said the economy and gallon prices approaching $4.00 was the reason for the reduction. If we are going to be able to survive these historic gas prices we're going to have to get the most out of every drop of gas.
The U.S Department of Energy has published some helpful tips to improve gas mileage.
They say aggressive driving wastes gas, lowering your gas mileage by 33 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent around town. By not punching the accelerator you can save money and also improve your safety. Avoid keeping extra things in your vehicle, especially heavy ones, because an extra 100 pounds could reduce your mileage by up to 2 percent. Now if the federal government could just figure out a way to actually lower the price of gas, we'd really be talking.
Finally, federal authorities say that driving the speed limit is one the most important things you can do to save fuel. Gas mileage goes down quickly for speeds above 60 mph, and as a rule experts say that for each 5 mph you drive over 60 is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon for gas. Driving at lower speeds can save you up to $0.80 a gallon, a huge amount when driving long distances.
Not speeding can also save you a lot in tickets and increased insurance premiums, because the Alabama State Troopers will be out in force over the summer driving season. The troopers implemented one of their effective safety "blitzes" on the state highways over Memorial Day weekend, one of many that they've done during this year.
The blitzes so far have paid off, with 61 fewer fatal wrecks in the state compared to this time last year. Hopefully, that positive trend will continue during these vacation months as the troopers remain out there in force.
A concern about the drop off in travel is how it could affect the state's economy. The Alabama Department of Tourism estimated that almost 22.4 million people visited the state in 2007, with travelers spending over $9.3 billion in Alabama, a 10 percent increase over 2006. Travel spending is estimated at 5.5 percent of Alabama's Gross Domestic Product last year, with approximately 170,000 jobs directly or indirectly related to tourism.
There is some good news for one of Alabama's most important tourist destinations: our lakes. For the first time in two years, state lakes are reaching capacity because of the spring rains, allowing for full recreational use throughout the summer.
It looks like along with the heat we will have to beat high gas prices too. Let's hope that those costs don't put a dent in our summer plans, because our families, and our economy, could probably use some brighter times.
Johnny Mack Morrow is a state representative for Franklin County. His column appears each Wednesday.
