Americans avoiding filling cars with gasoline as price exceeds four dollars per gallon

Some Americans are avoiding filling their cars with more gasoline than the minimum needed to get them to their next destination, they told Reuters, as gas prices in Washington D.C. broke four dollars per gallon.

Reuters has been visiting the same gas station in Washington D.C. every day. On Tuesday, March 31, 2026, the gasoline was being sold for $4.07 per gallon, compared to $3.96 the previous Tuesday, exactly one week before.

One driver told Reuters he was pumping less than two gallons of gasoline into his car just so he could drive to a cheaper gas station in the suburbs in order to fill his SUV there.

“I just put $8 in there right now, because I’m going over to the other side (of town) where it’s cheaper,” said driver Deon Gils.

Another driver was taking his girlfriend to the airport, and likewise only bought the gasoline he would need to drive from Washington to the Baltimore airport and back home.

“I 'm just putting $20 into it, just enough to get me there and back cuz right now I'm not, I'm not doing a lot of driving. Right now I try not to keep a full tank of gas. I used to, but I don't do it anymore, especially with the price of gas. If I was to try to fill this up right now, it would probably cost me almost $80, and I don't have $80 to put in this car. I'll just go day by day, moment by moment until I need some more gas,” said driver Perry Burr.

One driver had driven from Dayton, Ohio, to Washington on a family vacation, a more than 8-hour trip. He told Reuters the drive required a tank and a half of gasoline, and he had no choice but to fill up to return home but he would prioritize cheaper gas stations, even if it meant driving out of the way.

“The light is dinging me, so I need to fill up before I get out of town, but I didn’t want to get the $5 gas that was in downtown DC, so I drove out here to get a little bit cheaper,” said Andy Erickson.

-Production: Julio-Cesar Chavez/Reuters