WDBJ7 Roanoke News and Weather NRV Lynchburg Danville | How useful are gas price web sites?
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With gas prices now reaching four dollars a gallon, it seems many drivers will go to extremes to find the lowest price.
According to our News7 Survey USA poll, 58% of you will drive around to locate the cheapest price. But why waste gas doing that, when you can let your fingertips do the talking on the Internet?
"It's an idea. My friend uses them on her phone and she goes on there and checks before she goes home because she lives in Craig County," says Roanoke resident Audrey Luck.
Web sites like Mapquest will tell you the price and location of the cheapest gas in your zip code. They will even provide a map to show you how to get here.
But how can you be certain these sites are accurate? News7 did an Internet search and spot checked 20 gas stations in Roanoke, Roanoke County and Salem over a two-day period. Eighty-five percent of the listed prices were right.
But it seems many people are not ready to sign on just yet.
According to our Survey USA poll, 90% of you have never used these gas price web sites. We asked folks, with prices now at four dollars a gallon, whether they're willing to give them a try.
"I'm willing to try them out," says Roanoke resident Lorenzo Johnson. "I haven't been on to really try, but I'm willing to try them out."
"I don't think it can possibly be current with the way gas is going up," says New River Valley resident Thomas Craighead.
He may have a point. Many of these sites are user generated, meaning they rely on people to post the prices. The bottom line is that the Internet may help, but it's definitely not fuel proof.
