Nationwide Gas Price Hike Causing Major Concerns
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—It's not a great time for driving. As gas prices soar nationwide, the White House launched a task force to find out why drivers are paying more. Gas prices in Maryland have already topped the $4 mark.
Gigi Barnett is tracking the pain at the pump.
In California, gas prices are well above the $4 mark. In New Jersey, drivers line up when they find the cheapest gas. That's anything below $4 a gallon. And here in Maryland, drivers say there's only one way to pay for the spike.
"I need to get a second job," said one driver.
But there's another way to cope.
"I don't even pay attention to it," said Duane Johnson, driver. "If I looked at it, I'm not going to get any gas. I just do what I got to do and keep on going."
One business owner has passed the higher cost of driving on to her cleaning company customers.
"Not that they're complaining, they're not. They understand totally because they deal with the gas prices, as well," said Angie Allen, Clean Sweep Plus.
This week, a gallon of regular gas is up by three cents—pumping the Maryland's average on par with the national average of $3.85 for a gallon of regular.
"We're going to make sure no one takes advantage of the nation's consumers," said President Barack Obama.
This week, Obama created a special task force to find out if fraud in oil markets is part of the problem. But experts say pinpointing that kind of market manipulation is hard to do.
And what's more, summer travel and higher prices are yet to come.
"It's going to be a short vacation," said one motorist.
On average, drivers buy about 500 gallons of gas every year. If the latest spike continues it could mean an extra $500 for gas.
