Behind us lay the whole of America and everything Dean and I had previously known about life, and life on the road. We had finally found the magic land at the end of the road and we never dreamed the extent of the magic.

--Jack Kerouac, On the Road.

Americans' long love affair with the automobile may finally be cooling off with gasoline near $4 a gallon.

The Department of Transportation reports today that Americans drove less in March for the first time for that month since the oil-shock year of 1979. From a year ago, the number of highway miles traveled fell 4.3 percent, or 11 billion miles. That followed a very small gain in February of 1 billion miles.

Vehicle miles have fallen a total of 17.3 billion miles since November 2006. Since that time, the price of oil has more than doubled.

The rising cost of gasoline is coupled with tighter credit and a more uncertain economy for consumers.

Citing data from MasterCard, the New York Times notes that Americans spent $158 billion on gasoline in the first four months of the year. Five years ago, the tab was $88 billion for the same period.

This weekend is the start of the summer driving season--a glum season this year. Americans are taking fewer trips, and many are trading in the S.U.V.'s for more fuel-efficient vehicles.

As another poet of the road said:

The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive.
Everybody's out on the run tonight, but there's no place left to hide.