Energy suddenly became the number one concern of many millions of people.

In Greece, motorists were restricted to driving only on alternate weekends. Tanzania introduced gasoline rationing. Waits of several hours in long gas lines became commonplace in Turkey, Ireland and the United States.

“Pulling into a service station is beginning to seem like entering a combat zone,” said Time magazine in May. “Frazzled and angry drivers are starting to boil over.” In California, a frustrated man drove into a station ahead of a quarter-mile (.4-km) line of cars and used a pistol to keep other angry customers at bay while he pumped gas into his tank. Two New York motorists were killed in gas-line disputes. And a few beleaguered service-station attendants even took to carrying guns to keep the peace.

Dizzying Price Hikes

Added to the scarcity were staggering price jumps in many lands. By mid-1978, motorists in Turkey were paying more than three times as much as they paid for gasoline just a year before. Their price of about $2.80 per gallon ($.75 per L) was equaled by France, and in other countries the price actually passed $4 ($1 per L) by late 1979. Philippine drivers had to pay about two thirds more for gasoline than they did the previous year, as did Americans, who had long been spoiled by low fuel prices. And by late summer, Britons were paying almost 50 percent more for gas than they did last January. Even Japan’s already high prices climbed about 40 percent in a year.

Truck drivers particularly felt the crunch as diesel-fuel prices kept pace with gasoline. As one Ohio trucker complained: ‘When you get only three or four miles to the gallon (80 or 60 L/​100 km) that’s rough.’ And, of course, such increases in transportation costs affect the price of almost everything you purchase.

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Fuel saving when you drive

DO

Use radial tires

Use “low friction” or synthetic oil

Keep engine in tune

Stop engine when necessary to wait 30 seconds or more

DO NOT

Use snow tires any longer than necessary

Carry unnecessary items in trunk (reduce weight)

Start car moving in “jackrabbit” fashion