The laws of supply and demand

The laws of supply and demand state that as consumers see rise in prices, they will consumer less. This smaller consumption will lead to lower demand, which will drive prices lower due to unsold inventory. However, when it comes to price of fuel, a steady increase in prices doesn’t seem to be driving demand much. However, if the price breaks a certain “psychological pricing” point around $5 per gallon average nationwide, the demand for fuel just drops like a rock. How can we explain this unusual behavior for fuel? What does everyone think?