Gas Prices Have Drivers Fuming

Have you taken a look at the price of gas lately? The cost for filling up at the pump is on the rise across the country, just in time for spring and summer travel, CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports.

For the second time in less than two weeks, protesters, fuming over high gas prices, picketed Los Angeles-area service stations. Fueling consumer anger is a hike in gas prices to over $2 a gallon in some parts of California.

"It's a lot," says one West Coast driver. "I paid $16, and usually it only takes $9 to fill it up."

Prices are also climbing across the country. In Georgia, where gas is still under $1, prices are up about 30 cents a gallon in the last six weeks. In New York City, one driver calls the price hike "ridiculous."

Several factors are blamed for the jump in price. Oil producing countries have slashed production, while refinery fires in California are also cutting into supplies. But, many believe the real problem is oil company greed.

"It just seems people are being taken advantage of, and there's not much you can do but just take it," says another driver.

The higher prices have forced some motorists to cut back. Others are calling for a national gas out, one day when drivers refuse to buy gas. The movement is spreading fast on at least one highway—the information superhighway by e-mail.

Whether oil companies will feel that financial pinch remains to be seen. For now, it's car-loving consumers whose wallets are being drained every time they fill up at the pump.