Consumers cut driving but not diets: poll

By Timothy Gardner

NEW YORK (Reuters) - 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.

Private spending data supports the poll's finding on gasoline demand. U.S. drivers pumped nearly 7 percent less gasoline for the week ending May 16 than they did the same week last year, Mastercard Advisors said this week.

Year-to-date, American consumers have bought 1.4 percent less gasoline than they did last year, said Mastercard Advisors, , a unit of MasterCard Inc, that estimates weekly demand based on sales in its payments system.

Zogby said respondents have been sensitive to the $4.00 per gallon gasoline mark in previous polls.

"People have been saying that once prices hit $4.00, they are going to adjust their lifestyles and cutting back driving is one way they are doing it," he said.