Family Life

03.27.12 | Bob Price

Gas stations continue to pump out the pain.

“It’s outrageous,” said Pauline McKesson, driver. “I just put $20 in and that’s not even half a tank.”

This week prices jumped another six cents, bringing the national average to around $3.90 a gallon.

Maryland’s average is even higher at $3.93, inching ever closer to that dreaded $4 mark.

“It’s just too much,” said Harold Walter, driver.

“When is it going to get down? When will the happy days come back?” said Mohammad Naqibuddin, driver.

Despite these outrageously high prices, AAA has even more bad news. They say the summer months mean another spike.

AAA says April is when the East Coast switches from winter fuel blends to the more expensive summer fuel blends. And for drivers that means topping off already abnormally high prices.

“What we’re about to see, the increases will just make it even worse but these are typical increase we would see seasonal,” said Ragina Averella, AAA spokeswoman.

Experts expect prices to jump 10 to 20 cents over the next few weeks before spiking in mid-May at around a record-breaking $4.25 a gallon.

“I actually expect it to go high,” Walter said. “I think $4.50 to $4.70 a gallon isn’t impossible.