How high do gasoline prices have to go before Americans alter their driving habits?

According to the Web site “How Stuff Works,” Americans consume some 130 billion gallons of gas per year. The Associated Press predicted this week that would go to $3 per gallon if oil prices hit $70 a barrel. The state average Tuesday was $2.56 a gallon, compared to a national average of $2.59. A month ago, local residents were paying an average of $2.18, and a year ago, $2.12.

Folks complained about high pump prices last fall in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which knocked out oil refineries, but with the economic recovery putting more cash in their pockets, will they feel the pinch as much this summer?

Clay Ingram, spokesman for AAA, said he had heard the predictions for $3 gas, but he said he doubts it would go higher than that. According to the Web site www.fuelgaugereport.com, the highest recorded price reached in Huntsville last year was on Sept. 16, 2005, when the price of regular unleaded reached $3.16. In Athens, prices reached $3.29 per gallon shortly after the storm hit.

Ingram recommends that Alabama residents respond in much the same way they did after Katrina to “send a message” to oil companies that they would not tolerate the high costs.

“The general public demonstrated after Katrina that they are not comfortable with paying those prices,” said Ingram. “They stopped driving as much and the price dropped 85 cents-per-gallon in two months, so that it was close to $2 in December. As long as we’re willing to pay the high prices the oil companies are willing to charge them. But we can combat them by finding ways to conserve fuel.

“If enough people saved just 5 percent of fuel costs, it would send a message to the oil companies that we don’t want to pay that much.”

Ingram suggested combining trips when shopping or running errands, keeping the proper tire pressure and shopping around for the stations with the lowest prices.

Athens Police Chief Wayne Harper said his department is once more considering some of the measures it took last year in the wake of Katrina. Harper said all patrol officers are urged not to let cars idle, unless the motor must support emergency functions, such as flashing lights.

“What we did last year was one officer was assigned to the office on first and second shifts,” said Harper. “That took one car per shift off the road. That officer would work his shift at city hall and take care of walk-ins and booking. We have three shifts, but we just did that on two shifts. We’re looking at doing that again shortly.”

Harper said that Capt. Tracy Harrison tracked the savings and found that by taking one car off the road, the department was able to save 500 gallons per month.

“Of course, there are pros and cons to this,” said Harper. “If they’re in the office doing booking then they’re not out writing tickets and producing revenue.”

Another measure that the Police Department will soon go to is employing more stationary radar guns with officers radioing to cars to stop speeders. “We won’t be chasing cars as much as in the past,” said Harper.

Athens Mayor Dan Williams said the city is saving some fuel costs since it signed a contract a year ago with the “Fuelman” system. Williams said several companies offer this service. City employees are issued a credit card and must purchase fuel at participating stations. Whenever the employee fills up, a record of the gallons and that particular vehicle’s rate of consumption go into a database.

Williams said through using the Fuelman system, the city gets a few cents reduction on the cost of gas, but the price increases according to the general rise in the cost of gas. But he said it is still cheaper than the city maintaining pumps and having to keep up with where to find the cheapest supplier.

“Everyone knows that fuel is the boogerbear this year as costs go up too much, it’s a budget-wrecker,” said Williams.

Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely said that his department has already expended 61 percent of its fiscal year 2006 fuel and lubricant budget of $115,000 with half a year to go. He said that with 500 square miles to cover, his deputies burn more fuel in answering calls than patrolling. He also said he’s burning a lot of fuel transporting state inmates either to or from penitentiaries for trial.

“We can’t double deputies up, but we will definitely look at any unnecessary use of vehicles, “ said Blakely. “The scary thing is that there’s a real possibility it won’t come back down.”

There are several Web sites to help consumers deal with high fuel costs. The site: autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations, lets visitors type in their zip codes and find out where the cheapest gas is being sold in their areas. Another site, sponsored by AAA, fuelcostcalculator.com, lets you type in the coordinates of your trip and find out how much it will cost in fuel to travel. Another site sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, gaswatch.energy.gov, gives consumers a place to report stations that they suspect of price gouging.