TheScooterScoop

KRT Wire | 08/23/2005 | Some turning to scooters in order to save gasoline: “FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – (KRT) – Dave Murray, a 57-year-old retiree, bought used a Yamaha scooter about eight years ago ‘when they were not in vogue,’ he said.

Now, with regular gasoline at $2.65 a gallon or more and threatening to reach $3, Murray uses the scooter more than ever for short trips around town, getting 54 miles per gallon.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident has put 1,300 miles on the two-wheeled vehicle since December, and estimates he’s saved about $144 on fuel, compared to what he would have spent driving his diesel-powered 1986 Chevy Suburban, which he uses for heavy loads and longer trips.

Not everyone wants to buy a scooter or can afford a new, fuel-efficient car. But Murray and other readers of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel have contacted the newspaper with tips on how to save gas, which still is below the inflation-adjusted peak of about $3 a gallon reached in 1981.”