Time To Get A Digital Counter

Gas prices are breaking the mechanical counters inside the pumps:

While gasoline is still dispensed at no more than 10 gallons a minute, higher prices mean the mechanical equipment must spin faster to keep up, leading to more problems. When gas was a dollar a gallon, the penny wheel went to a dollar in one minute. But, anything that goes four times faster is going to wear out quicker. This time, prices have risen so high so quickly that the manufacturers of the replacement parts have been unable to keep up.