Prepay policy has eliminated gas drive-offs in Cape

Between September 2012 and April, Cape Girardeau police responded to 306 reports of gas drive-offs.

A policy that went into effect this spring dropped that number to zero, a police spokesman said.

On May 1, at the request of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, all local gas stations began requiring drivers to pay for fuel before pumping it.

The idea was to reduce the number of drivers filling their tanks and leaving without paying -- often inadvertently, said Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

"All gas stations in the city of Cape agreed to abide by it. As of a month ago, we have had none -- zero gas drive-offs," Hickey said last week.

The policy drew some grumbling before its implementation -- especially from customers who wanted to fill up without paying at the pump, which required them to overestimate their fuel cost, prepay and then get a refund for the difference -- but Hickey said people adjusted quickly.

"It was a learning curve at the beginning for everyone involved," he said. " ... Some people from outside the city that weren't aware of it; they just stated they didn't know, so it took some adjusting."

He said similar policies are becoming common across the country.

Before the policy took effect, one officer spent most of his time investigating gas drive-offs, Hickey said.

Many of the cases were mistakes: Drivers scanned a credit card at the pump, filled their tanks and drove away, assuming the transaction had gone through, he said.

They didn't realize the card had been declined or the transaction somehow had been disrupted until they got a call from an officer, Hickey said.

"I would say probably 50 percent of them were those people that thought they paid at the pump," he said.

The elimination of gas drive-offs has freed an officer to investigate financial crimes and spend more time patrolling, Hickey said.

"I'd say it's a 100 percent successful project," he said.

Spokesmen for Rhodes 101 and Bi-State Oil did not return phone calls seeking comment last week.

A spokeswoman for Kidd's was not immediately available for comment.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, MO