American drivers burn 380 million gallons of gas per day, up nearly 20 percent from a decade ago. American cars are less and less fuel efficient, and Americans are driving more—despite the increasingly absurd cost of gasoline. The average driver logged 15,000 miles last year (that's 3 trillion total miles of car travel). In 1985, the average driver covered less than 12,000 miles.

I didn't drive 15,000 miles last year and my ride is a Honda Civic, but I'm guilty of automobile addiction, too. Driving seems so easy and convenient, but when you factor in traffic, road rage, gas prices, and, uh, life on Earth as we know it, it's not really such a great deal, is it?

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