Driving Less, Hurting More

It’s a national tradition that Americans squeal like stuck pigs whenever gasoline prices go up. Coming atop the increases of the past few years, though, the most recent run-up does seem different in kind. In an ABC News/Washington Post poll, 77 percent of respondents said the recent increases have caused them financial hardship, including 51 percent who said it amounts to “serious” hardship.” The figures are all the more striking given that 55 percent of respondents said they’ve cut back on driving, up from the 42 percent saying so just a month earlier.