Young Drivers Getting A Lesson in Economics
Pinched at the Pump, Teens Cut Back on Social Outings and Alter Commutes

By Donna St. George
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 21, 2008

Gas prices are too high for a day trip to Dewey Beach. They are too high for a quick visit to see a friend in College Park. They consume enough of 18-year-old Ashleigh Krudys's paycheck that she second-guesses her social plans.

This is not how she imagined life with a driver's license.

"I feel like I'm not being a real teenager," said Krudys, of North Bethesda, who pays for gas with a full-time babysitting job and is college-bound in the fall. "When you watch movies and stuff, it's like everyone has their own car and everyone can drive and go where they want all the time."

As the nation's unprecedented jump in gas prices takes a toll across the region, many teenagers say they, too, are feeling the pinch. Some have a harder time wresting car keys from their parents. Others are looking for second part-time jobs to help foot the bill. Some are using Metro more often or getting around in other gas-saving ways.

This reality check comes at a time in their lives when many think of driving as exciting: a symbol of age and hard-won freedom, a rite of passage, an escape. But the price of gas has tempered the thrill for many teens, especially those who use their own money to fill up.

They talk of fewer evenings out. Less cruising around. More riding together and pitching in to buy a few gallons.

"You have to scavenge around for money every time you go out," said Gary Jones, 17, of Wheaton, who is headed to Bowie State University in the fall and who pays for most of his gas with his restaurant-job earnings. Sometimes his mother pitches in; sometimes he takes the bus. "You don't give anyone a ride unless they have $5 for gas," he said.

As a group, teenagers tend to be lower-paid on the job, face higher prices for car insurance and drive older, less fuel-efficient vehicles, they point out. Escalating gas prices come as another blow.

"It's like I'm working to pay for gas," said Jamel Douglas, 19, a graduate of M.M. Washington High School in the District who drives to Laurel for his job as a security guard. Lately, he said, he has given up weekend drives to Virginia. He and his friends walk when they can. For now, he said, "Our car-buying days are over."

Even when parents are willing to help, Alex Rodriguez of Riverdale said, it takes more money to make a difference. "You have to get $20 instead of $10," said the 18-year-old, who is looking for a job.

Allison May, also 18, drives siblings and does family errands in exchange for gas and also works at a restaurant. She said she cut back on celebrations after graduating in June from James Madison High School in Vienna. "I have a lot of friends in Maryland, and I didn't go to everyone's parties because it's half a tank both ways," she said.

May said she and her boyfriend take turns driving on dates. When she shops, she looks for the shortest route, trying not to double back. "I try to map it out in my head so that I don't waste gas," she said.

Teens say they are all eyes for which gas station has the best prices: A few even give their parents tips on where to fill the tank. The average price of a gallon of unleaded gas in the Washington region topped $4 last month. A year earlier, the national average was almost $1 a gallon less.

Logan Lawrence, 16, a rising junior at Gonzaga High School in the District, said he bikes to his lifeguard job in the Maryland suburbs and has cut back on trips to 7-11 and Chipotle. "I just don't drive as much as I want to," he said. In spite of help from his parents, he said, "A good bit of my paycheck goes to gas."

Feeling the economic squeeze, Michelle Lewis, 17, joined two friends at a mall recently to look for jobs. Lewis has a part-time position, but her hours were few. She had cut back on outings with friends and even trips to see her grandmother in Laurel.

"Me and my friends are mostly sitting home watching movies now," said Lewis, a rising senior at Richard Montgomery High School who shares a car and gas costs with her twin sister.

Justin Osorio, 19, who lives in Aspen Hill, said that with gas "pretty much going up every day," the idea of getting a car has lost much of its allure. "I was thinking of getting a moped instead," he said.

Aly Massey, 18, of McLean, a college-bound student whose parents pay for her gas, has been inspired to cut back more by environmental concern than financial necessity. "I used to like to drive around and think and listen to music, but I don't do that anymore," she said.

Many teens are considering whether their commutes to jobs and colleges are as feasible as they once thought.

Josue Flores, 19, said the price of gas leaves him wondering whether he will be able to stay enrolled in Montgomery College or have to move back to Honduras. In just two days, he points out, he paid $70 at the pump, largely to support his commute to a painting job in Bethesda. "You cannot even shop," he said. "It's hard to get the things you need."

Michael Johnson, 19, said that when he thinks about the cost of gas, his modest pay at a mall clothing store and how many miles he travels to get there from his Gaithersburg home, he can see that the commute costs more than 30 percent of his earnings. The Montgomery College student says it almost makes him want to take a job closer to home.

Laurie Johnson of Olney said that her eldest daughter, Kathy, 19, will be living on campus at the University of Maryland's School of Pharmacy in Baltimore rather than commuting there as the family had planned.

"We really thought she would save money by living at home and driving every day," Johnson said. But as prices climbed, the economics shifted entirely.

Now Johnson is bracing again, with a second daughter, Allison, 16, on the verge of getting her driver's license. "At this point, with the cost of gas, there are going to be new rules," Johnson said, pondering a 50-50 split to cover the burden.

In some families with teenagers, driving less is a harder sell.

Doug McKenzie, a father of three in Upper Marlboro, said that his own gas consumption is down but that it has been tough to persuade his 17-year-old daughter, Elle, to follow his lead.

McKenzie said he has begun asking his daughter why she always volunteers to drive on social outings. Why not her friends? "Maybe once or twice you and your friends could stay home," he recalls telling her.

But ultimately, he said, he gives in to her most persuasive objection.

"Dad, I'm a teenager," his daughter tells him.

The depth of teenagers' concern about escalating gas prices might track along a telling fault line: whose money is being used to pay at the pump.

Cate Wilson, 17, a rising senior at Langley High School who lives in Great Falls, is candid about not conserving. "My parents pay for it," she said. "They say limit my driving, but I don't sort of do that."

Then there is Kaitlin Coffey, 19, who attends the University of Richmond and is so focused on the cost of gas, which she pays for, that she does not turn on the air conditioner in her car, except on the most sweltering days and then only briefly.

Her friend Rachel Ognibene noted that, for her 18th birthday this month, her father chose gas as one of her gifts. He topped off her tank: a $22 surprise.

Stephen S. Fuller, director of George Mason University's Center for Regional Analysis, said the fallout for teens is largely related to family economics. A teenager whose parents pay for gas "probably doesn't feel it at all, but the teenager whose spending depends on his earnings is going to feel this significantly. Gasoline is a big portion of their budget."

For some teens, gas money comes from several sources.

Jessica Fainberg, 18, of Potomac, a recent graduate of Winston Churchill High School, splits her gas costs with her parents, funding her share mostly with her two-days-a-week babysitting job in Germantown. But as prices rose, she has come up short. "Half the time, I can't afford to even fill up my gas tank halfway," she said.

She said part of the problem is the vehicle she fell in love with: a Nissan Xterra. "The first day I filled up, it was like $65, and I was like, 'Oh, man.' " But relief has come from friends who pitch in when she gives them a ride. And from holding back on her driving.

Her parents contribute, too.

In a recent week, she asked her mother for $20 for gas on a Tuesday. She got $10. It was enough to keep her on the road until Thursday, when she was paid.