Decline in Drivers Licenses in U.S.

[Balog]

I'm 27. I don't have a license. I do know how to drive, I just had some disagreements with the theoretical test needed to get a license here...

Europe is a lot more no car friendly, or a lot more owning a car unfriendly is you want to look at it that way.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

if i didn't have kids i'd ditch one car

[MillCreek]

We have three cars, one motorcycle and six bicycles between the two of us.  If the Seattle weather provided for comfortable riding year round, I would sell at least one car in favor of riding the motorcycle.

[LadySmith]

I like living in the boonies too much to not have a car.
I just wonder if this decline will drive car & gas prices down or up or a bit of both?

[AJ Dual]

I like living in the boonies too much to not have a car.
I just wonder if this decline will drive car & gas prices down or up or a bit of both?

Gasoline is complicated. Price of crude on the market has a modest impact.

The balls-to-the-wall 99% capacity, "Just In Time", delivery with no margin for error or accidents in our nation's refinery capacity, and the first NEW one is getting built (or recently opened?) due to all the NIMBY-factor and EPA regs etc. And the fact they have to make summer and winter blends, in three grades of something like 36 different regional air pollution control blends. That's a BIG chunk of the price of gas. Cut that down to just 12 blends or something and that might be a dollar a gallon right there...

Low economic demand creating higher supply can lower costs too. Combined with winter and less driving can add to that. And yeah, too low of demand for too long could create loss of economy of scale for the refiners too.

[Boomhauer]

Oh, come on now AJ don't feed us that Big Oil BS. RecordWindfallStolenProfits!!!11!!!!!!

[RevDisk]

Something else I've noticed lately is dudes are having chicks drive them around everywhere. My dumbass sister dated 3 losers in a row who did not ever have a running vehicle, money to pay for a date, etc (but they always had plenty of money for the latest video games and crap). She'd drive them all over the place and pay for everything. And I see in town and at work that she is far from being alone, it's very prevalent.

On the plus side, for guys these days in their late 20's or early 30's, there are plenty of divorced women looking for a guy with a job, a vehicle and having one's stuff reasonably in order. Oddly, the "bad boy" allure apparently does eventually wear thin. Except the "bad boys" just tend to be general scumbags, chronically unemployed, drug users, spousal abusers, etc. They are as dangerous as a turnip to anyone even mildly trained.

*shrug*

[Boomhauer]

On the plus side, for guys these days in their late 20's or early 30's, there are plenty of divorced women looking for a guy with a job, a vehicle and having one's stuff reasonably in order. Oddly, the "bad boy" allure apparently does eventually wear thin. Except the "bad boys" just tend to be general scumbags, chronically unemployed, drug users, spousal abusers, etc. They are as dangerous as a turnip to anyone even mildly trained.

*shrug*

Yeah, I've never been impressed by so-called "bad boys" with pants hanging low, giant flat brim hats turned sideways, wearing dirty wifebeaters and listening to rap music. Ridiculous? Yes. Bad? LOL

[LadySmith]

Gasoline is complicated. Price of crude on the market has a modest impact.

The balls-to-the-wall 99% capacity, "Just In Time", delivery with no margin for error or accidents in our nation's refinery capacity, and the first NEW one is getting built (or recently opened?) due to all the NIMBY-factor and EPA regs etc. And the fact they have to make summer and winter blends, in three grades of something like 36 different regional air pollution control blends. That's a BIG chunk of the price of gas. Cut that down to just 12 blends or something and that might be a dollar a gallon right there...

Low economic demand creating higher supply can lower costs too. Combined with winter and less driving can add to that. And yeah, too low of demand for too long could create loss of economy of scale for the refiners too.

Thanks, AJ.
I always thought the ever-fluctuating price of gas was dependent upon a butterfly flapping its wings somewhere. 

[Laurent du Var]

I live on the French Riviera in a region (Côte d'Azur) 
where I suffer through 1h30 of traffic jam every workday for about 25 000 miles per year.
Gas is about 8 $ per Gallon and Insurance about 1500 $ / year.
I'm on my 12th car in 21 years of driving and it is save to say that 11 of those are scrap metal or
hopefully recycled by now.

I'm not a big enviromentalist but this is a crazy waste of natural resources, time, money, energy plus the ever lurking fear of an accident for loved ones and has to stop somehow.   

And that's befor my hate of the damn trucking industry our whole failing economy seems to depend on.

Fewer people driving in the US, in Europe, the world?  I say yay !