The average price of gasoline nationwide is the highest it’s ever been for this time of year ($3.52 per gallon on Feb. 13, up from $3.14 per gallon on Feb. 13, 2011) and still rising. Prices for the Gulf Coast region were slightly lower on both counts at $3.43 per gallon this year, up from $3 last year, according to the most recent figures listed on the U.S. Energy Information Administration website.
Kristy LeBlanc Smith of Lumberton was one of those who said she would curtail her driving in response to higher pump prices.
“Absolutely. I’ll have to drive less and even pull my son out of preschool,” she said. “I drive 40 miles total a day just to have him in preschool and I can barely afford to take him to school as it is. If it goes up past $4, I won’t be able to take him anymore. He will just have to wait until Pre-K in town next school semester.”