AFAIK, New Jersey and Oregon are the only states where motorists aren’t allowed to pump their own gas. To be fair, there are occasional safety incidents in other states that are caused by dummy-dum-dum-heads doing dumb things like:
-getting in/out of their car while refueling, then touching the dispenser nozzle and causing a spark that starts a fire
-filling a portable gas container that’s not placed on the ground, causing a static-induced fire
-driving away with the dispenser nozzle still inserted in their car’s filler hole, ripping the hose from the dispenser
-accidentally dispensing large quantities of fuel on the ground
Are there statistics that show these types of events occur less often (or not at all) in NJ and OR? Is there a cost-versus-benefit argument that can be made for such laws, similar to how the FAA makes safety decisions (i.e. a human life is worth $X, and if a safety measure costs society less than $X per life saved, it’s worth it)?
Is it just me not paying attention, or are the incidents you listed as examples so rare that, virtually, they are not happening at all? I simply never hear of these kind of problems at the self-serve stations here in Chicagoland. Anyone else?
I’m thinking that there is no realistic justification for banning self-serve stations in the states you mentioned.
Pump fires due to static discharge occur roughly about half a dozen times per year in the U.S. Considering how many people fill up their cars every day, you’re not likely to encounter this at all during your lifetime. There are a few videos of it on youtube though.
Driving off with the nozzle still attached is much more common than that, but I don’t know the statistics on it. This is happening much more frequently in recent years, which makes many people think that cell phones are responsible. Folks get distracted and are off in their own world checking their phone instead of paying attention to the pump, making them much more likely to forgetfully drive off without removing the nozzle (or so the theory goes).
I have personally seen someone dispense a lot of fuel onto the ground, but that was back in the days when many cars had the filler under the license plate. The driver thought he had put the nozzle into the filler tube but had missed, and didn’t realize it until gas started running out onto the ground around his car. I don’t know how common spills are these days.
I doubt it. The Oregon statute had a grab bag of 17 reasons attached, not all of which were safety issues. It included such things as providing jobs, equal access for the disabled and senor citizens, etc.
BTW, Oregon has apparently recently relented and allowed people to pump their own gas in rural counties. Urban counties still have the law.
I have no idea if there are any stats on the OP’s questions but as a lifelong Oregon dweller, I can at least testify that I’ve never seen or heard of any of these things happening. While pump jockeys aren’t exactly heavily trained, they seem to follow basic safety rules (like setting a jerry can on the ground before filling) pretty close.
Additionally, it’s illegal for an attendant to top off a gas tank, which obviously makes it difficult to overfill. The only real complaint I’ve heard from anyone about Oregon’s refueling laws (other than that it’s stupid, which I don’t agree with) is it’s easy for a busy attendant to forget to put on the gas cap. In 20 years of driving in this state that’s never happened to me or anyone I know of, so take that for what it’s worth.
It’s been probably 10 years, but I once spilled a not-insignificant amount of fuel when the auto shutoff on the pump handle didn’t, while I was on the other side of my car washing the windows.
It seems to me that is even more likely to occur if an attendant is filling the car. They are quite often doing other things like filling other cars.
Driving off with the hose in place is not much of a problem. I did it once. They are designed to come loose and was easily reattached in seconds with no gas spilled. If I’d done it while the gas was still pumping, I assume a small amount of gas would have spilled. I’d think the only big problem would be if the driver kept going and didn’t return the easily reattached hose.
I think you’d see them in arguments for these laws if they existed. Some people do make a non-quantitative safety argument like you laid out: here’s what could happen, though some depend on the assumption gas station attendants are more careful than car owners which is open to doubt IME.
Anyway in NJ if you listen to news article or talk radio comment when anyone suggests changing that law, it’s all about ‘preserving jobs’ or avoiding ‘extra profit going to oil companies’ which are completely stupid reasons IMO, concern about access for seniors/disabled is somewhat more realistic*. Even people in favor of it don’t seem to seriously believe it’s worth it for safety reasons. A similar cost/benefit for safety would probably require way higher standards for granting people driver’s licenses to begin with, for one thing.
*but it would seem the other 49-1/2 states demonstrate this doesn’t create a crisis.
In the UK you would be hard pushed to find a filling station that is not self-serve. However, there is often a button to press for anyone who has a problem to request an attendant. I have never seen this used.
Regarding jobs and/or some people not willing or able to fill their own tanks, there’s no reason why gas stations can’t be full and self service. In fact, up until 15ish years ago, most gas were set up such that at least one pump was full service. Pull up, they see you and run out to fill the tank (and back in my day they’d clean your windows and check your oil too). IIRC the full serve pumps were usually an a little bit more per gallon.
I’d imagine if/when OR and NJ made the switch, many of them would do that.
I’m not quite sure I understand how it would mean more profits going to oil companies. My WAG is that the franchise owners pay a percentage off the bottom line back to their brand (Shell, Citgo etc). So saving money, means more profit, means more money back to them. I just assumed they paid a percentage (if that’s how it works) off the top line, in which case payroll wouldn’t be part of it.
What you really don’t see much of anymore are the stations that are both self serve and full serve, with different lanes of pumps delineated as such. Used to see those all the time back in the day, now, never.
That said, for me, I don’t want anyone pumping my gas for me.
I keep thinking that if I had lots of time and money, I would take my '75 Chevy to one of those states, just to see the befuddlement on the operator’s part when he couldn’t locate the gas cap. (Hint: it’s behind the license plate.)
But I have a locking gas cap on the thing, just as a general precaution against theft, so I would have to get out of the car anyway.
Or if you really want to confuse them, bring in a 1950s era car that had the gas cap hidden behind the rear tail light. Know anyone with an old Bel Air they’d let you borrow?
Here, at least, they’d find it almost instantly. There are a LOT of old cars still on the road in Oregon. Our winters aren’t severe enough to salt the roads, and much of the state is rural poor who aren’t buying new cars any more than they have to. I’ve actually seen behind-the-plate cars being refueled by the attendants, here.
(I did confuse one once with my Plug-in Hybrid – he opened the electrical port rather than the gas one, which has an almost identical cover on the Sonata. But I think he was confused for about three seconds.)
In general, the “no-self serve gas” (which isn’t completely true any more, there are some exceptions) is one of those things that out-of-staters like to feel superior about, but in-staters either don’t care or kinda like it. In a state where it infamously rains 722 days a year, it’s nice not to have to get out of your car, and the attendants are usually pretty attentive, so you’re not waiting for them a lot.
As others have mentioned, it is more so for employment, equal access and the like and possibly environmental concerns with spilling. The fire hazards really require deliberate actions. Leaving a cigarette lit in your car, leaving the car on, creating static charges while playing around in the trunk, talking on your phone etc. are pretty low risk activities. Jumping your car while pumping gas and smoking a cigarette while filling up probably leans to the more dangerous side of things, but unless there is gasoline everywhere and on the ground, it’s still unlikely. Not trying to endorse testing it out but I could bet you could hold a burning match in your hand while pumping and nothing will happen. If the gas sprayed out it would more than likely extinguish the flame. The only real risk is the volatile vapors coming into contact in sufficient quantity, with an open flame or spark. The Pump, hoses and connectors have features that try to mitigate vapors and its for proper pump flow and an overabundance of safety. Even the gas is cooler being underground and will have less vapor than gasoline stored above ground. Probably more of a risk in years past than now with the vapor assist technologies.
No, he meant tail light. You had to turn a piece of chrome trim in the tail light assembly and then the tail light folded down to expose the gas cap. My father had one.