CAN WE REALLY AFFORD TO LIVE GOOD WITH GAS PRICES $4 A GALLON

AS I WAS DRIVING DOWN TO THE LOCAL HIGHWAY I STOPPED MY CAR & LOOKED UP AT THE SKY, NOT BECAUSE I SEEN SOMETHING FALLING BUT SOMETHING RISING.."GAS PRICES" I THEN LOOKED OVER ACROSS THE STREET BOTH WERE $3.99..I YELLED WELL DAMN $4 DOLLARS FOR GAS HOW CAN WE POSSIBLE LIVE WITH GAS GOING UP,WHICH MEANS THE PRICES OF FOOD WILL GO UP, WHICH MEANS PEOPLE START TO STRUGGLE EVEN MORE..CHECK THIS OUT BELOW

With gasoline priced at $3.99 per gallon Thursday at the Giant Eagle Get-Go station on Route 20, Stevenson’s 22.5 gallons of gas is the tip of the summertime gas price iceberg. Some stations in Ashtabula County were selling gasoline at $4.15 a gallon.

“Gas prices are ridiculous,” Stevenson said. “Nearly $4 a gallon at the end of April! I can’t think of any good reason why the cost of gas is shooting up the way it is.”

Northeast Ohio motorists are paying 7.2 cents more at the pump this week, AAA East Central director of communications Bevi Powell said from Pittsburgh.

The national average price for a gallon of self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline was $3.86 Thursday, Powell said, with crude oil trading at $112.28 per barrel.

Thursday, gas prices averaged at $3.91 in Ashtabula and Lake counties, AAA reports. The average price of gasoline per gallon during this week last year was $2.76, Powell said.

“Crude oil flirting with $115 per barrel coupled with the change from winter-blend to summer-blend gasoline means drivers have seen the price of gasoline at the pump continue to rise,” Powell said.

“You can’t plan or project for gas prices like these,” she said. “From mowing grass to fixing roads, the high cost of gas makes everything more expensive.”

Stevenson was filling up the red gasoline tanks to get her lawn mowing started for the year and she isn’t planning on many camping trips this summer.

“We have two vehicles and a camper, so with that and the lawn mower, we pay a lot in gasoline,” she said. “We enjoy camping because it is affordable fun, but we only planned one long camping trip this year because the price of gas is so high. We may be camping in the backyard this year.”

Powell said the rising cost of gasoline has some motorists, “flirting with disaster.”

“With gas prices nearing record levels, motorists who attempt to stretch a tank of gas too far could end up stranded on the roadside,” she said. “Allowing your car to run out of fuel puts you in a potentially dangerous situation and could also could result in costly repair bills.”

Powell said running a vehicle extremely low on fuel may cause sediment in the bottom of the tank to clog the fuel pump pickup, the fuel filter or the fuel injectors. Power steering and brakes can be lost when the engine dies, and drivers can end up stranded in the middle of a road.

AAA also offers a free AAA TripTik Mobile iPhone app to help drivers plan efficient routes for errands and locate the best places to stop for gas along the way.

Stevenson said she fears drivers don’t just feel the “pain at the pump.”

“I’m afraid we will see a ripple effect this year,” she said. “Gas prices effect farming and shipping, so we pay more at the pump and more everywhere else, too. Even contractors are building fuel surcharges into their prices.”