Despite the outcry over gas prices, consumers are buying more than ever, and the economy is running smoothly

…[A]nyone can save gasoline simply by slowing down. The federal government says that every five miles per hour you drive above 60 miles per hour is like paying an extra 20 cents a gallon for gasoline.

Yet people aren’t slowing down, at least in any broad sense. Take Maryland, where highway signs alert drivers that lower speeds save fuel. At the request of BusinessWeek, the Maryland Transportation Dept. put together data for six characteristic stretches of highway in the state, comparing average speeds this spring and one year ago. The combined change for the six was a decline of 0.27 miles per hour — statistically insignificant.

To put it bluntly, behaviors haven’t changed because for most Americans, gasoline prices just aren’t high enough to make a difference. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, gasoline accounts for about 4% of a typical consumer’s spending. A healthy chunk, to be sure, but less than the nearly 6% spent on, for example, recreation.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2006/tc20060512_840093.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily