A car pulls into a gas station. In the car is a student driver. The driver exits their vehicle to get ready to pump gas, but there is one problem that causes the driver to start sweating. The price of gas is so high that the driver can only afford to fill up half their tank. The student driver decides when they get home to start taking the bus to school again.
In the past month or so, situations like these have been playing out across the U.S. because of how gas prices have been rising since the start of the Iran conflict, where a key port known as the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked and may not fully open till the second half of 2026, according to ABC News. The strait is a key supplier of 20% of the world’s oil.
A year ago in the U.S., the national average for gas was $3.10. A month ago, when the conflict started, the average was $3.92. Yesterday, April 25, the average was $4.06. These high prices for gas have made some people much more aware of how much they are driving.
“I do not pay for my gas personally, but I do start to feel guilty now when I am driving, or even when other people are driving and I have definitely become way more aware of [prices],” junior Natalie Freytag said. “Before I would just drive around not for fun necessarily, it would not be a huge deal if I was just driving, but now if my friend was picking me up, I start to feel guilty.”
The gas prices have made Freytag have to rethink certain aspects of being driven to places.
“If I am driving long distances, I make sure I am driving my friends equally as much as they drive me,” Freytag explained. “Because I have become aware now of the prices of gas, and it might get to a point where it is starting to impede on other things that need to be purchased.”
The higher awareness of gas prices does not stop at younger drivers. More experienced drivers are also trying to change their habits.
“I have been a driver for 30 years,” language arts teacher Shanna McCabe said. “Rising gas prices have made me a lot more aware of where I am going and the routes I am taking to get there, and if I can be more efficient in running errands so that I am not driving as much.”
To try to help with the rising cost of fuel, Governor Mike Braun recently announced a 30-day gas tax break set to end May 8, which has some critics worried that if he does not extend the break, then prices could see another rise of six cents in Indiana. Though regardless of what happens, driving remains vital to most day-to-day lives in the U.S.
“Driving is one of the most important things in my daily life,” junior Sam Moore explained. “I have to drive to get to school and to work. I could not walk if I wanted to.”
You can save gas by avoiding extended periods of idling, minimizing the use of air conditioning during the summer, and if buying a car soon, looking for a model that has the best gas mileage.
