Don't Try to Gas and Dash

By Logan Orlando

With the price of gas up 26% over the past year and oil hitting a staggering new high last week of $67 per bbl., too many Americans are filling up without paying up. Although some gas stations have installed such deterrents as extra surveillance cameras as well as systems that force customers to pay before they pump, many more have been nagging state legislators to help curb rampant gas theft. Here are some of the fruits of their lobbying:

o PUMPING UP PENALTIES

With police records revealing that 42% of the nearly 34,000 larcenies committed last year in Oklahoma City involved gas theft, the Oklahoma Governor signed a bill this spring that raised the fine for stealing gas to $500, up from $100.

o SUSPENDING LICENSES

Iowa enacted a law last month giving courts the right to suspend the licenses of second-time offenders for as long as 30 days. A similar law kicked in this month in Minnesota, with the same penalty for first-time offenders.

o DEMANDING PREPAYMENT

Voters in Milwaukee, Wis., will decide next month whether to join several municipalities--including Twin Falls, Idaho, and Myrtle Beach, S.C.--that in recent years have passed mandatory-prepayment rules.

o DISPENSING DRIVER INFO

A South Dakota law enacted in February allows retailers--or, more specifically, the ones quick enough to record a suspect's license-plate number--to obtain contact info from the police to seek reimbursement as well as payment of service charges and any court costs.

o STICKING TO FULL SERVICE

Pilfering at the pump is not a problem in New Jersey and Oregon, which are strictly full service. Customers have not been able to pump their own gas in those places for a half-century. Will other states ever catch on? --By Logan Orlando