Zombie Research Society
On Monday, December 10, 2007, Italian truck drivers went on strike, and just two days later gas stations were sucked dry and food was running out across the country. Citizens did not anticipate the crisis, meaning that there were no long lines at gas stations leading up to the shortage.
When traveling in a zombie world, you can’t count on pulling over to a local filling station when your armor-plated Hummer runs short on gas after just a few miles. In fact, even if you have extra fuel, when it comes to fleeing zombies, bigger is not necessarily better. Roads will be clogged with so many other vehicles that driving over or through obstacles will be impossible in anything less than a gas-guzzling tank.
On a highway overpass, traveling tight city streets, or boxed in by steep drop-offs on a country road, larger vehicles will become immobile cages fit for speedy abandonment and little else. But even smaller vehicles, such as compact cars and motorcycles, will prove useless in just a matter of days as fuel runs out across the planet.
So if your survival plan involves driving great distances with the expectation that you’ll be able to find a filling station or siphon gas from abandoned cars, you might want to think about getting a new plan.
What about an off road moped? Small enough to fit in or on your primary vehicle and very light on gas. A full tank and a Jerry can would be enough to get you a few miles from the city. Not to mention when the fuel runs out you can pedal.
Here’s a good question.
Why am I the only person to comment on this site who uses his real name?
What impresses me most in this article is that there is no acual point of reference for an American vehicle driver to use. Yet you buy into it like it was gospel truth. Italy is not a valid point to use since there are more cars and trucks here in America than in any other country in the world. More fuel is used in every possible way here, than in most of Europe combined.
If you think we would go empty so quickly I feel like you deserve what you get for “Sitting tight and waiting”
Bug out vehicles are a valuable part to any plan, talk to any prepardness guru. However, they aren’t meant for roaming the wasteland hunting raiders and zombies, they are designed to get to you BOL. You should have enough fuel available to get to you BOL plus some in case of emergency. It should be a vehicle that alwsfor breif off road excursions to bypass traffic conditions.
Depends on your situation. I currently live in Vancouver. Rush hour traffic clogs up the freeways pretty bad, so it’s safe to assume that they will become a standstill in the event of a panic. A clogged highway will quickly become a deathtrap in a zombie event. It doesn’t matter what off-road capabilities your vehicle has, getting out of the city VIA automobile will be IMPOSSIBLE, or at the very least extremely difficult and dangerous. I have a Jeep, which I think is a great zombie vehicle, but I won’t be using it during the initial panic. If it’s still there once I surface from my hideout, and I have fuel to throw in it, I might consider it to get as far as possible before abandoning it. I agree that in certain instances they would be useful, but not in my situation.
Stay put, prepare, plan, fortify, rally, train, fight, kill, WIN!
But do it right. Obviously a bad plan is going to make you equally as dead (or undead) as no plan.
Feels like we’ve been through this so many times already.. automobiles WILL NOT BE A VIABLE MODE OF TRANSPORTATION once society starts to break down. Small cars won’t be able to go far because of obstacles on the roads and their inability to move the obstacles or to drive on rough roads. Large vehicles will be too thirsty to take you very far.