After Pittsburgh police noticed a Hummer (yep, a Hummer... what else?) sitting conspicuously close to a five-hundred gallon tank of gas at a golf course, the vehicle suddenly took off. Considering that the top speed of a Hummer is right around one-hundred miles per hour, we can safely say that the driver was giving it all he had in an attempt to get away. The high-speed chase ended as the Hummer smashed into a tree and rolled several times in a nearby parking lot. The eighteen-year-old-driver sustained leg injuries which required a hospital stay and will face charges after being deemed healthy.

Sixty-eight gallons of gasoline were said to be found missing from the tank by the golf course superintendent. To recap: this story is further proof that:

1. Hummers are very expensive to fill up.
2. Gas thefts are on the rise in the face of record-high fuel prices.

[Source: WPXI News]

The Kelley Blue Book seems to track nearly everything related to cars and transportation. We recently became aware that a new KBB survey indicated that consumers are changing their car-buying habits because of high fuel prices. Not every purchaser is choosing as efficient a vehicle as they could, to be sure. According to KBB's latest survey, new car buyers are spending less on non-essential activities, like going to the movies, eating out and even purchasing new homes, all because of those same high gas prices. This data seems to indicate that it's not just the automotive industry feeling the pain -- the entire economy is at the mercy of petroleum.

Only twenty-two percent of respondents indicate that high gas prices are not affecting their spending habits at all. One bit of good news is that carpooling and other alternative transportation methods are on the rise, which should result in some reduction of vehicle emissions. Still, the five-percent increase cited since October of last year indicates that the public still has a long way to go before carpooling or mass-transit becomes a serious option in our collective minds.

With gas prices to remain steady around $3 a gallon, the media's been having a field day, predicting that $4 may be reached by year's end.

Apparently, though, it'll take a lot of factors to jack up prices to such a level. States analyst Mark Routt of the Energy Security Analysis, Inc., "One of two things would have to happen for prices to increase 50 cents to a dollar. Either there would have to be a massive increase in demand globally, which is unlikely, or a massive drop in supply, which would push the price of crude up."

Factors that could affect prices include refinery problems, pipeline issues, or another hurricane. Currently, crude oil and gas prices are actually dropping as inventories build, cease-fire in the Middle East between Hezballah and Israel; and BP continues to pump fuel in Alaska.

At $4 a gallon, would most Americans cut back in their driving habits? Most analysts and consumers interviewed agree that the price will have little impact in their driving habits, stating the gasoline-powered car is too much of a necessity in their lives.

[Source: Detroit News]