Well, there's still the distance thing. Nothing is very far away in the UK, so you don't need nearly as much petrol. Brits also seem to have more common sense about the cars they buy, so they get further on a gallon, or litre.

The USA is big. Everything is spread out all over the continent. Just to go visit my kids, I have to drive 17, 40, 50, or 170 miles. My sisters are 165 and 900 miles away. My wife's mother, who is 88 (and we have to visit her about twice a month) is 150 miles. I have other relatives in California, 2500 miles. Even my doctor who I have to visit more than I would like is 35 miles away.

Tennessee is a smaller-than-average state and it measures more than 400 miles east to west. Most of the other 49 states are larger.

In California, you can drive all day for two days and still not cover it from end to end. We have to have a lot of gas to drive that much.

Public transportation in the UK is far better than in most parts of the US. We have subways and buses in large cities, but in much of the country it's drive or walk.

Last week I had to fill up the tank twice just to get home. I ran out about 20 gallons of gas. Pulling a small trailer, my truck gets about 20 or 22 mpg. How often do Brits use that much gas in one day?

My next vacation will be by car. That goes 35 miles on a gallon.
Howard