Consumers cut driving but not diets: poll

As prices at gasoline pumps and grocery stores rise U.S. consumers say they are driving less but they can’t cut down on eating, a new poll found.

Nearly half of respondents to a Reuters/Zogby poll of likely voters in the presidential election later this year said they are driving less to compensate for record U.S. gasoline prices, which hit a record average of $3.80 per gallon on Tuesday according to travel club AAA.

But only about 8 percent of the 1076 respondents in the national poll said they were eating less generally to cope with rising food prices, the poll said.

“People have more control over gasoline. they are driving less and driving smarter,” pollster John Zogby said by telephone.

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