HOUSTON—Everyone knows why the chicken crossed the road, but what about the driver?

These days, he might be doing it to save a penny.

Take the intersection of Eldridge and FM 529, for example.

On Wednesday, the Chevron on one side was selling regular unleaded for $1.98 a gallon.

“I’m loving it. Especially driving an SUV like this. I was spending $110-120 a couple of months ago. Now, It’s costing me maybe $60,” driver Cedric Washington said.

“I’m just really excited. The market’s down and gas prices are, too. So I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not, but I’m going to take advantage of it,” driver Shelly Howell said.

AP

But what they didn’t know was the Shell station across the street was selling gas even cheaper.

One cent cheaper, to be precise.

They don’t even bother to post a price.  Regular unleaded is just always one cent lower than the Chevron across the street.

“The owners own multiple gas stations. They’re just competing with each other to see who has the lower prices. As you can see, gas is cheap as crap here,” tow truck driver John Klovenski said.

So what happened to those record gas prices of a few weeks back?

The short answer is, the record prices happened, and people reacted. 

Demand is down five percent from this time last year.

“People have responded to high prices as you expect them to. That is to conserve, to drive a little less than before. But it’s also an income effect,” Bob Tippee of the Oil & Gas Journal said.

In other words, the trend is fueled by worries over the troubled economy.