March 18, 2011
As of Thursday, average prices at Virginia’s gas pumps stood at $3.47 for regular, $3.53 for premium and $3.74, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge. In West Virginia, prices were $3.62 for regular, $3.73 for premium and $3.84 for supreme.
Prices edging into the $4 a gallon range are forcing more low income households to seek help with gasoline when they have an emergency.
“Let’s see,” Craig Hammond of the Bluefield Union Mission said as he checked his records. “Let’s look at today’s alone. There was a man who had to get help to North Carolina whose wife was having surgery, which we verified. We had a referral from Montcalm. They needed gas because their mother was bedridden and they had to go pick up her medicine.”
During the first two months of 2011, 55 families asked for gasoline assistance. Twenty-two families have requested this help so far this March, Hammond said.
“Their reason for this is the high price of gas,” he said. “It’s really had an impact; ours are mainly for medical travel and emergencies. We had one who came down here for a funeral and couldn’t get back home.”
Households that are better off financially still have to deal with the bite gasoline prices are taking out of their budgets, especially when commuting to and from work accounts for much of the driving.
Tim Shinault, sales manager for Cole Harley-Davidson, Inc. in Bluefield, said the dealerships has seen new customers arriving. Some of the new interest has to do with warming weather, but others are looking at motorcycles that can get 40 to 60 miles per gallon.
“Some folks who are purchasing now have 40 to 50 miles to drive to work,” Shinault said. “They’re looking to save some gas.”
Scooters have been popular in other parts of the country because of their fuel mileage–80 to 100 miles per gallon–but most people seeking a bike for gasoline savings have looked at motorcycles, said Reggie Poe, sales manager at Hillbilly Cycle Sales in Princeton.
“I’ve sold a couple of bike in the past month because of that,” he said of fuel prices.
Fewer scooters are used in West Virginia because the law requires drivers to have licenses and tagged vehicles. In Virginia, scooters that are 50 cc or lower do not require licenses, tags or registration, Poe said.
“If West Virginia would change the law in the 50cc and lower scooters to where you didn’t have to have a license to ride them, there would be more scooters out there,” he said.
Some motorcycle dealerships saw record sales the last time gasoline prices approached the $4 a gallon mark.
“This year we’ve already started out ahead of last year’s sales in motorcycles,” said Darrin Coe, general manager of Swampfox Motor Sports. “And two years ago when gas was about $4, we had a record year in motorcycle sales.”
Motorcycle sales tend to “ebb and flow” with the economy and gasoline prices, he said.
“I certain expect to see it (good sales) based on gas prices and the floor traffic we’ve had,” Coe said. “We’ve already sold several street bikes. I’m just tickled to death.”
A slow economy can impact motorcycle sales since many people do not consider motorcycles a necessity; this can change when fuel prices get high.
“We sell for fun in this building, but a motorcycle can get 50, 60 miles per gallon and you have a guy that commutes 20, 30 miles a day, that could save him a lot of money,” he said.
As gas prices grow, motorists consider new rides
PRINCETON — Gasoline prices continuing their climb toward the $4 a gallon mark are inspiring some motorists to reconsider the vehicle they feed with their gasoline dollars.As of Thursday, average prices at Virginia’s gas pumps stood at $3.47 for regular, $3.53 for premium and $3.74, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge. In West Virginia, prices were $3.62 for regular, $3.73 for premium and $3.84 for supreme.
Prices edging into the $4 a gallon range are forcing more low income households to seek help with gasoline when they have an emergency.
“Let’s see,” Craig Hammond of the Bluefield Union Mission said as he checked his records. “Let’s look at today’s alone. There was a man who had to get help to North Carolina whose wife was having surgery, which we verified. We had a referral from Montcalm. They needed gas because their mother was bedridden and they had to go pick up her medicine.”
During the first two months of 2011, 55 families asked for gasoline assistance. Twenty-two families have requested this help so far this March, Hammond said.
“Their reason for this is the high price of gas,” he said. “It’s really had an impact; ours are mainly for medical travel and emergencies. We had one who came down here for a funeral and couldn’t get back home.”
Households that are better off financially still have to deal with the bite gasoline prices are taking out of their budgets, especially when commuting to and from work accounts for much of the driving.
Tim Shinault, sales manager for Cole Harley-Davidson, Inc. in Bluefield, said the dealerships has seen new customers arriving. Some of the new interest has to do with warming weather, but others are looking at motorcycles that can get 40 to 60 miles per gallon.
“Some folks who are purchasing now have 40 to 50 miles to drive to work,” Shinault said. “They’re looking to save some gas.”
Scooters have been popular in other parts of the country because of their fuel mileage–80 to 100 miles per gallon–but most people seeking a bike for gasoline savings have looked at motorcycles, said Reggie Poe, sales manager at Hillbilly Cycle Sales in Princeton.
“I’ve sold a couple of bike in the past month because of that,” he said of fuel prices.
Fewer scooters are used in West Virginia because the law requires drivers to have licenses and tagged vehicles. In Virginia, scooters that are 50 cc or lower do not require licenses, tags or registration, Poe said.
“If West Virginia would change the law in the 50cc and lower scooters to where you didn’t have to have a license to ride them, there would be more scooters out there,” he said.
Some motorcycle dealerships saw record sales the last time gasoline prices approached the $4 a gallon mark.
“This year we’ve already started out ahead of last year’s sales in motorcycles,” said Darrin Coe, general manager of Swampfox Motor Sports. “And two years ago when gas was about $4, we had a record year in motorcycle sales.”
Motorcycle sales tend to “ebb and flow” with the economy and gasoline prices, he said.
“I certain expect to see it (good sales) based on gas prices and the floor traffic we’ve had,” Coe said. “We’ve already sold several street bikes. I’m just tickled to death.”
A slow economy can impact motorcycle sales since many people do not consider motorcycles a necessity; this can change when fuel prices get high.
“We sell for fun in this building, but a motorcycle can get 50, 60 miles per gallon and you have a guy that commutes 20, 30 miles a day, that could save him a lot of money,” he said.
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