High gas prices put crimp on learning to drive
By David Schepp
The Journal News • June 16, 2008
NEW CITY - High prices for gasoline and other fuels is putting a squeeze on many livelihoods in the Lower Hudson Valley. Among the latest victims: driver-education schools and parents of driving-age teens.
Steve Green, a White Plains father of two teenage boys, is not only spending more on gasoline - as much as $500 a month, or more than double what he used to just a year ago, he said - he also is spending more time educating his boys on ways to cut down on their use of gas.
"I'm trying to get my son to understand that things have changed," said Green of his eldest son, Jason, 19, who likes to jump in the car to visit friends, say, in New Jersey.
"You really have to think twice about where you're going, how you're getting there, and drive more efficiently," Green said.
It takes about $80 at today's prices to fill up the tank of the Greens' Jeep Cherokee, one of three cars the family owns, that gets 10 to 12 miles to a gallon, Green said.
The average price for regular unleaded has surpassed $4.30 a gallon, according to a June 3 survey conducted by the Westchester County Department of Consumer Protection. In Rockland, the average price for regular rose to a bit more than $4.25 a gallon, according to a June 6 county survey.
Furthering Green's concern about the rising cost of gasoline is his other son Eric, 16, who is due to take his license test Friday and, should he pass, will likely want to drive more, including to high school in the fall.
One tip Green has given both his sons is to avoid accelerating quickly when a red light turns green.
Before, Green was concerned about the safety of gunning it at a traffic light, but today he's mindful of the fuel that's being wasted, he said.
Making young drivers aware that jack-rabbit starts are wasteful is a fine message, said AAA New York spokesman Robert Sinclair, but it shouldn't come at the cost of teaching safety first.
"We wouldn't be emphasizing the gas savings message as a means to make young drivers slow down," Sinclair said.
"If (drivers) slow down because of safety, then you'll have the byproduct of saving gasoline."
At Adrian's Driving School in Tarrytown, owner Adrian Mic said his business has been impacted by the increase in the cost to fuel his cars - a Toyota Corolla and a Honda Civic.
Eight years ago, when gas prices were much cheaper, Mic said it cost $13 to fill the tank and he charged $45 for a 60-minute driving lesson. "Now, we charge $60 and we need $50 to fill up the tank," he said. "It's a huge difference."
Mic can't raise his prices in step with the rise in fuel costs. If he did, he'd have fewer customers, he said.
Mic's current $60 rate is a $5 increase above the price he charged just two months ago, he said.
Even that incremental increase, he said, made some potential customers reconsider his service.
New Yorkers aren't required to take in-car driver instruction from a certified driving school. The state's teenagers, however, must have 20 hours of supervised instruction with an adult, usually a parent or guardian. A bill pending in Albany would raise that number to 30 hours and amend other provisions of the law as it pertains to young drivers, their passengers and their parents.
Alba Arias, president of All County Drivers Training Center Inc. in New City and Suffern, has seen a measurable decline in business from last year's levels, she said.
Arias blames the drop on less disposable income among consumers. "I just think they don't have the money. People are trying to spend on necessities," she said.
Arias, who runs a fleet of seven Toyota Corollas and trains an average of 25 students a day, said she isn't sure what she can do to counter higher fuel prices and is simply absorbing the additional cost.
"With the way the recession is ... I don't believe in putting fuel surcharges," said Arias, who charges $55 for a 45-minute private driving session.
Doing so, she said, would crimp the mission of the school, to teach safe driving techniques to a wide variety of teenagers and adults.
Reach David Schepp at dschepp@lohud.com or 845-578-2437
