Are you ever tempted to go that extra mile or two with the gas gauge flashing before filling up again? Apparently more area motorists are chancing it -- and are ending up stranded.

Allstate Motor Club said out-of-gas distress calls shot up 64 percent in Pennsylvania in the first five months of this year -- to 287 from 175 during the same period last year. Nationwide, calls rose 52 percent.

The motor club, with about 2.5 million members nationwide, suspects $4-a-gallon gasoline is driving people to press their luck.

"Anecdotally we know that consumers are trying hard to stretch their dollar and sometimes that means stretching fuel into fumes," Allstate spokeswoman Tracey King said.

The larger AAA motor club has not seen a similar surge in area members running out of gas. The club, with roughly 50 million members nationwide, answered 6,413 gas-related calls in the four-state Pittsburgh area during the first six months this year, up about 1 percent from the 6,331 calls in the first half of 2007.

One reason Allstate members may be more willing to gamble is that they get their rescue can of gas at no charge, while AAA members pay for it, unless they have a premium membership.

Ms. King said there was no evidence that members were running out of gas on purpose to score some free gas.

"That is a correlation you could make, but the motor club has not seen a spike in repeat offenders," she said.

Both Allstate and AAA said they provide enough fuel to get stranded motorists to the nearest service station.

Ms. King said the average wait time for emergency gas was 30 minutes. But more troublesome than the inconvenience is the hazard of being stuck on the road and in danger of being hit, she said.

The best way to delay going to the pump is to conserve gasoline, Allstate said. Some techniques include keeping tires properly inflated and the air filter clean; using the recommended grade of oil; avoiding quick starts and stops; using cruise control and overdrive on the highway; avoiding keeping unnecessary heavy items in the trunk and driving in peak rush hours; and driving less by running errands together and taking advantage of car pools and mass transit.