I pity the fuel who panic buys

Advised by the government and fuel companies not to ‘panic buy’ in the face of an up-and-coming tanker strike which seeks to severely restrict the availability of petrol, one knows that that’s exactly what the British public will do.

It’s what we’ve always done. If there’s a few inches of snow everyone dashes to the supermarkets for bread, milk and cans of beans, as if we’re about to enter a post-apocalyptic age. It’s utterly child-like behaviour that in this case only serves to exacerbate the situation.

Whilst not going to buy any petrol is of course a foolish mistake to make – curtailing your social life and any chance at the independence you’ll be grappling for after returning home from university – neither is going out and filling your tank to the brim, causing ridiculously long queues and depriving others of much needed petrol a good idea. Stockpiling petrol is only going to create fuel panic, not alleviate it.

There are both legal and health risks with storing vast quantities of petrol, it being against the law to possess more than ten litres of petrol at home, and no doubt a fire hazard to do so. Furthermore, if we resort to this reckless response, the situation will only deteriorate further than if we were to take a rational and practical approach.

For instance, imagine we knew there was enough oil resources to last us for only the next 30 years. If we took a measured and normative approach in our consumption of said oil then it would indeed last us that 30 years. However, if the rumour mill began churning, as it has recently, with the possibility that the oil wouldn’t last us, we would begin consuming it in an irrational and insatiable fashion, causing it to run out faster than necessary.

Panic is somewhat expected around times like Easter. People won’t want to compromise their road trip plans, and if that means getting more petrol than usual then what’s the biggie, right? However, since Unite – encompassing drivers who deliver to Shell, Esso and some of the leading supermarkets – are negotiating for a more stable industry, our approach in dealing with their proposed strike should not instigate more instability. Surely that’s only going to ensure the strike will actually happen.

My advice, not that I’m particularly qualified to give it, is to ‘be bright and sit tight’, rather than ‘splash the cash and dash.’ You may think these puns immature, but to espouse an old adage (because apparently I’m feeling particularly wise today), don’t act like a child if you don’t want to be treated like one. The tanker strike has yet to be confirmed and, in the event that it does happen, notice will be given. The British public are causing the shortage in their pre-emptive panic. If you’re running on empty, fill up as you normally would. If you still have half a tank, chill out. It’s only common sense.