Fox News Poll: Voters Cutting Down on Driving Due to Gas Prices

Majorities of American voters say gasoline prices have caused them to drive less -- and support domestic oil drilling more.

Sixty two percent have cut down on driving, and 61 percent are more inclined to support domestic drilling, according to a Fox News poll released Tuesday.

The high price of gasoline has caused about half of voters (49 percent) to consider changing their summer travel plans.

Meanwhile, nearly half (47 percent) are now considering buying a more fuel-efficient car.

Click here for full poll results.

Gas prices have caused such a crunch that one-third of voters (34 percent) have been forced to give up necessities to be able to afford to fill up their gas tank. Those living in lower income households (50 percent) are twice as likely as those with higher incomes (25 percent) to say they are giving up necessities to pay for gasoline.

Similarly, 73 percent of those with household incomes below $50,000 say they are driving less these days, compared to 57 percent among those with incomes $50,000 or more who report driving less.

As of Sunday, the current national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.94.

Breaking Point for Gas Prices

If the price of gasoline reaches $5 a gallon, nearly half of voters (48 percent) say they would demand the government increase supply by allowing more domestic oil drilling offshore and in Alaska.

If it reaches $6 a gallon, nearly 70 percent would, and at $7 per gallon fully 76 percent of voters would demand more domestic drilling. Almost 85 percent would do so if the price of gas were to reach $10 a gallon.

Just 7 percent of voters say they wouldn’t demand more domestic oil drilling no matter how high gas prices go.

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 911 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from April 25 to April 27. For the total sample, it has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.