Statistics from GristMagazine.com, an online publication of environmental news and humor, prove just how crazy we Americans are for cars.
214 million
Number of vehicles in the United States (Earth Policy Institute)
282 million
Number of people in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau)
13,476
Miles driven by the average person in 1995 (Department of Transportation)
24,902
Circumference of the earth in miles
19%
Portion of the average United States household budget devoted to transportation (Surface Transportation Policy Project)
18
Average fuel economy, in miles per gallon, of SUVs and pickup trucks
48
Average fuel economy, in miles per gallon, of hybrid electric cars
$625
Estimated amount the average urban motorist loses annually in wasted fuel and time sitting in traffic (Texas Transportation Institute)
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