Gas prices poised to top milestone $3 mark since 2008

Gas prices were poised Wednesday to top the milestone $3 mark for the first time since Oct. 17, 2008, as the national average compiled by motorist group AAA reached $2.997 a gallon.

Gas prices have risen more than 4% from $2.872 a month ago and are nearly 16% higher than the $2.585 average a year ago, according to the AAA figures, CNNMoney reports.

The Oil Price Information Service says the average motorist in Virginia spent $331.94 on gas this month, more than 6.7 percent of their monthly household income. In Maryland, the cost was a bit lower at $279.37, or 4.8 percent of household income.

AAA Mid-Atlantic's John Townsend says those percentages could get much worse when the spring driving season arrives.

"When prices bounce back in the springtime you could have the second highest prices in American history," he says, WTOP reports.