UK: Drivers cut short journeys by 165 miles to beat fuel costs

[phantom power]

According to findings by petrol station trade body RMI Petrol and Experian Catalist, total fuel consumption by road transport in the UK declined 3pc in 2011 to 33.5bn litres.

This is the equivalent of 30 litres less for each of Britain's 34m vehicles, enough fuel for a 165-mile journey.

The figures are included in a new letter from the chairman of RMI Petrol to the Chancellor, and seen by The Daily Telegraph, calling for fuel taxation to be "reconsidered and reformed".

Brian Madderson said fuel duty was a "deeply flawed" tax on consumption that "unfairly penalises" working families, low income earners, rural communities and businesses.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/oilprices/8987213/Drivers-cut-short-journeys-by-165-miles-to-beat-fuel-costs.html

[Nihil]

1. Good (or at least a good move in the right direction - contrary to what is being proposed ...)

Cutting out the easiest 165 miles (or, pedantically, 30 litres regardless of how many
miles are actually avoided) is a move in the right direction.

Using this figure as a pretence for reducing fuel tax (even by the transparent request
for it to be "reconsidered and reformed" ) is however a very bad move ... but not one
that is surprising from the industry who profits directly from more fuel being wasted ...


(Edit: Have I said how much I hate the dumb DU3 bug that converts parentheses to smileys?)

[phantom power]

2. yes, well we're still somewhere in the denial/bargaining stage...

Although events like OWS and Arab spring suggest we might be moving on into anger.

[FBaggins]

3. Doesn't demonstrate a causal relationship.

It could easily be that a poor economy has caused fewer people to take vacations... or job layoffs mean that some people aren't commuting... or new/improved public transportation has made personal vehicle use less common... or people are driving more and more efficient cars... or more freight is shifting from lorry to rail transport...

You could go on and on. You can't take a data point that says "less fuel was consumed" and jump straight to "it's because of the tax on gas".

[phantom power]

4. I actually left the "gas tax" spin in there for humor

More conservative cargo-cult economics