To Pump or Not to Pump, There’s the Rub

Several years ago we visited my wife’s brother in Idaho. While showing us around that beautiful mountain state, he drove us to Hell’s Canyon Dam near where Idaho and Oregon meet. Since it was quite a trip from Boise, his truck needed fuel. We stopped at a small gas station-grocery store, and he started to pump his own gas. The attendant nearly had a coronary because, you see, Oregon has a law against pumping one’s own motor fuel. It was on that day I learned there are but two states in the nation that prohibit self-pumping of gasoline, ours and theirs.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlan Jr. (R-13th) recently made a name for himself when it was widely reported that he proposed doing away with the ban on self-pumping of gasoline in the Garden State.
Because confession is good for the soul, here is mine: I have oft wished I could jump out of the car, grab the nozzle and fill my own tank, pay with the swipe of a card and be on my merry way. Such thoughts occur as I languish as shiny “land yachts” get filled to the brim, the attendant chats with his best buddy, and there are four other cars ahead of me waiting for the same guy. Making it worse, all I need is perhaps five gallons of petrol.
My dearly beloved, however, is adamantly opposed to self-pumping of gas. She has passed along to our daughter her sentiment, “Jersey girls don’t pump gas!”
They enjoy telling the tale of a time when they, on a girls-only shopping trek to Lancaster, Pa. needed gas, and forgot that in Pennsylvania, you pump your own gas or else. Some snarly guy asked what they were waiting for at the pump, when they said an attendant, he uttered a foul comment. Then my daughter grudgingly pumped gas.
Thus we have the making of a “civil” gas-pumping war in the Garden State. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-3rd) last week nipped the proposal by stating O’Scanlan’s bill would not be posted. End of debate.
That word can after Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) issued the following statement on the need to uphold New Jersey’s law prohibiting self-service dispensing of motor fuel at gas stations. Van Drew is the sponsor of legislation (S1331), filed Feb. 27, 2014, that expresses additional reasons for maintaining the ban including protecting the needs of people with disabilities and the consumers of gasoline in this state:
“New Jersey implemented its ban on self-service decades ago and has continued to uphold it based on a myriad of reasons, from protecting the safety of our residents to providing safeguards for our most vulnerable populations. There continue to be ample reasons to keep this ban in place.
“Requiring full service is one of the things we do right and that we offer our residents beyond what other states do. We shouldn’t roll back a law for which residents have time and again vocally expressed their support. But this is not just about convenience. It is about protecting seniors, those with physical disabilities and residents who are struggling to make ends meet.
“Although the Americans with Disabilities Act has requirements for gas stations offering self-service, residents with disabilities who travel outside of New Jersey find that they are largely ignored and rarely enforced, increasing the difficulties at the gasoline pumps for people with mobility problems and others who need assistance. We also know that states that allow self-service gasoline charge more per gallon for full-service. There is no doubt we would see the same trend in New Jersey if we allowed a repeal of the law. There is no reason to reverse this requirement. This is one of those occasions where we should leave ‘well enough’ alone.”
Apparently one of the reasons for those higher prices at those do-it-yourself pumps is, in Van Drew’s bill, “The higher general liability insurance premium rates charged to self-service stations reflect the fact that customers who leave their vehicles to dispense gasoline or other inflammable liquids face significant inconveniences and dangers, including the risks of crime and fall-related personal injury, which are a special burden to drivers with physical infirmities, such as the handicapped and some senior citizens.”
Why not allow the option of self-serve or “full service” gas stations? What would be the harm? There are self-checkout lines in stores, why not in gas stations?
Being “blessed” with allegedly “full-service” gas stations, when was the last time a gas attendant: cleaned the windshield and rear window, checked oil level and other fluids, and looked at the tires to advise, “That rear right tire looks like it needs air. Can I put some in for you?” Since that’s not going to happen, why do we need hands-off, attendant-will-serve gas stations?
The debate will linger. The good senator isn’t about to change his mind. I’m not about to change mine. One truth he speaks that I cannot disregard and puzzle to understand: Why does gas cost more in states where you pump your own gas? Ah, just one of life’s mysteries that will never be explained.