a colorful explanation, but you can't be serious.
the major factor at work here - 70% of gasoline is purchased by credit card. the increased costs of gasoline, are simply being rolled into consumers debt load - they are financing it, like they finance their other purchases, by the way they manage their credit cards.
want to see demand for gas drop in relation to higher prices (what should be happening) - ban credit card purchases for gas, cash or debit only. you'll see a 10-15% decline in demand within one month.
right now, a consumer spending $100 more per month on gas on their credit card - the true cost to them, is simply whatever the bump in their monthly payment is as a result of the extra $100 they are charging. the true effect of the run-up is gas prices, is being insulated to the consumer, by use of credit cards. so demand doesn't fall.
So what you're saying is that availability of credit resources to pay for gasoline (a non-price factor) is causing the demand for gasoline to be artificially higher than it would be otherwise (or at least more price inelastic than it would be) and that eliminating this resource would shift the demand curve inward. That is very possible. Since that would represent a reduction in quantity demanded at the current price levels, as opposed to a reduction in quantity demanded in response to a further increase in price, that would reflect a reduction in demand. Thank you for helping to illustrate my point.