With gasoline prices at record highs, simple math shows that Americans are paying more than ever to cruise down the road, right?

Not so fast.

Take a peek behind the numbers and two things become obvious. The first is rather encouraging; the second is disheartening.

-- Factoring in inflation and more fuel-efficient vehicles, Americans are going farther than ever on a tank of gasoline. That helps hold down the cost of driving.

It costs about 35 percent less to drive a mile today than in 1981, when the price of gasoline hit its previous record.

-- If Congress had mandated even more fuel-efficient vehicles in the 1990s — as it should have — the gasoline prices would have far less impact on the nation’s economy today. And on the psyche of the American people.

In recent weeks, the high cost of fuel has worried drivers in Kansas City and around the nation.

Presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton advocate suspending the federal gasoline tax.

It’s a bad idea. It would slash funding for road repairs, which should be largely financed by those who use the roads.

With all of the attention on gas prices, here’s a closer look at how they affect motorists.

Prior to this year, the average price of gasoline hit its record high in 1981, at a cost equal to $3.17 a gallon in today’s dollars. Back then, the average car got just 16 miles a gallon.

The bottom line: Gasoline cost motorists 19.8 cents a mile back then.

This spring gasoline has hit $3.50 a gallon in many parts of the nation. But the average new car today gets 27.5 miles a gallon.

So gasoline costs drivers just 12.7 cents a mile. That’s 35 percent less than in 1981, accounting for inflation.

In the 1990s, Congress debated — and killed — attempts to boost the requirements for vehicle fuel efficiency to 35 miles a gallon by the middle part of this decade.

But what if one of these proposals had succeeded? Gasoline would cost drivers of new cars only 10 cents a mile.

American motorists are paying a high price today for the past reluctance by Congress to demand higher-mileage vehicles.