<p>been living in NJ all my life, JHS, and that ^ has never happened to me. Must be the station you go to…</p>
<p>* being a Jersey Girl I know how to use my feminine wiles to get big burly men to help me out.*</p>
<p>I threw up in my mouth alittle reading that one. :p</p>
<p>I am not understanding how people get smelly pumping gas.
Do you dribble it on yourself or something?
You take the gas cap off, insert nozzle, remove nozzle, replace gas cap.
Where are you getting gas on yourself?</p>
<p>What is stupid about staying warm & dry (or cool & dry) in your climate controlled car while someone else pumps smelly gasoline into your tank? And washes the windows as a bonus? It’s pretty smart, I think. (Especially in the mornings when I drive D to school & I’m wearing pajamas.) </p>
<p>Never had an attendant incorrectly replace a gas cap either.</p>
<p>If you want full service, that’s fine. Just don’t go imposing it on everyone else. What happened to civil liberties?</p>
<p>Never had an attendant incorrectly replace a gas cap either.</p>
<p>I have in Portland.</p>
<p>The few times I have gotten gas before getting on freeway in east Portland I have had both the attendant replace cap incorrectly ( which I didn’t realize until check engine light came on)- never had them wash the windows ( there wasn’t even provisions for such ) & made me impatient because there was only one attendant, but multiple pumps & I felt stupid standing there.</p>
<p>( I also appreciate the chance to get out of the car and stretch as well as checking oil- air in tires etc- you really should check your fluid levels when you fill up)</p>
<p>^that’s kind of arbitrary, isn’t it? Is that the only time you can check those? Can you only do that if you’ re the one filling the tank?</p>
<p>An empty gas tank, is difficult to ignore.
But if the driver prefers sitting in their car while someone else fills their tank, I find it difficult to imagine them jumping up to check the coolant and oil levels, if getting out of the car is such a big deal.</p>
<p>Again, if that is your choice to be waited on, I don’t have a problem- but those of us who like to do things ourselves aren’t given a choice in that situation.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This issue of gas being 10-15 cents cheaper in NJ has absolutely nothing to do with the “you’re not allowed to use the pump” law. It’s because the NJ state gas tax is 10-15 cents less than the all neighboring states: NJ is 14.5 cents, PA is 31.1 cents, NY is 31.9 cents, CT is 25 cents and DE is 23 cents. However, NJ hits it’s residents up more in other departments (the NJ sales tax is higher than all those other states) so for the average person even just a 1% increase in sales more than cancels out the 10-15 cents per gallon savings on gas tax. </p>
<p>
I don’t think they generally wash the windows… it’s not full service just “let us push the buttons and pull the pump handle.” </p>
<p>I have nothing against such a service… I just think that if people want someone to pump their gas for them it should be optional. Those that want it can pay extra for it… that’s fine. But those that don’t want it shouldn’t be forced into paying for such services.</p>
<p>I’m allowed to prepare my own food, serve myself and eat at home if I choose to. I can save money this way because I don’t need to pay the surcharges added to food prices at a restaurant where someone else prepares it for me. If I choose to have this “premium” food service then I can and I, and only I, have to pay the higher price. This gas law is equivalent to the state making eating at home illegal and forcing everyone to pay for someone else to prepare their food (even though they’re perfectly capable of doing it themselves). </p>
<p>A lot of NJ residents seem to support the gas law, but surely if the support was actually so widespread then they could easily scrap this silly law and the station attendants could stay employed (because this market of people would happily pay a surcharge on their gas for the service) but those that don’t want it could save some money. What’s wrong with that? If a market exists for these services then people will still stay employed pumping gas. However, if no market exists but people are forced to pay for it anyway then in the end nobody really wins (even though on the surface it looks like a positive situation… as with the broken window analogy).</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone has done a survey but I bet at least 80% or more of NJ residents want to keep things the way they are.</p>
<p>Imagine: You pull up to the pump. You lower your window just a crack, enough to pass the credit card through. You use the time to stretch in your seat, clean out your glove compartment, eat that donut, or call someone on your cellphone and chat. You take your card back, sign the slip, and off you go with a full tank. AND you pay less than those New Yorkers. Bliss. </p>
<p>You guys from out of state are either jealous or you don’t know what you are missing.</p>
<p>No, we’re not too dumb to pump our own gas, we’re too smart to do it.</p>
<p>
Yeah, but if that was true it would be all the more reason to get rid of the law. If 80% of NJ drivers would pay the extra amount for someone else to pump for them then that would almost surely be enough for all stations to keep gas pumpers employed. The 20% that want to pump their own can save some more money. People should be free to decide for themselves… if the support is actually as strong as the NJ residents on here say then nothing would change… in a free market economy the law could be scrapped and prices, and service, would essentially stay the same. </p>
<p>
Again, pay less at the pump BUT pay more at the till so NJ residents are actually paying MORE (not less) than citizens in their neighboring states for their overall purchases (gas plus everything else). Although clearly lots of people aren’t doing the math and buying into the “isn’t NJ great, our gas is so cheap” propaganda ;-).</p>
<p>RM–you lose all credibility when you call us “Jerseyites”. Everyone I know is a “Jerseyan.”</p>
<p>
OK then… Jerseyans 
but Websters and many other sources list New Jerseyite (although after Googling I see that it’s sort of a pet peeve of NJ residents).</p>
<p>^Ya want pet peeves? We got pet peeves. :)</p>
<p>Despite all its flaws and stereotypes, I adore New Jersey and am proud to say so.</p>
<p>One of the interesting things about gas prices is that they’re all inclusive (e.g. you pay the price on the sign and all the fees and taxes are included). As such, I think part of the reason why the NJ population wouldn’t have such an objection to the law is because they don’t see how much extra it’s costing them. The fact that the gas tax is lower than surrounding states only adds to this problem because, as indicated by some of the response on this forum, people think “this is great, we pay less and we get ‘free’ service” (although as pointed out it might be a false sense of saving money when you take into consideration taxes on other purchases). </p>
<p>Full service re-fueling is unpopular elsewhere because people get to see the direct difference between what it costs to do it themselves vs what it costs to pay (via a higher listed price per gallon) someone else to do it. The vast majority of people there decide that the additional cost is not really worth the benefit of the service. </p>
<p>Given this data from every other state (except Oregon) I find it hard to believe that NJ is somehow fundamentally different. If given the choice, I think most people there would also keep the extra money.</p>
<p>I don’t know a single New Jerseyan (yes, -AN) who looks at it as “not being allowed to” pump gas. Rather, we don’t “have to” pump our own gas. Love this policy. Is the law outdated from a safety standpoint? Absolutely. Does it cost us a few cents on the gallon? Yes. But a revision to the law gets mentioned every so often and we riot. We love it this way.</p>
<p>[NJ</a> rejects self-service gas](<a href=“http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=110510]NJ”>http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=110510)</p>
<p>What I noticed is that when self-serve came in, at least in Massachusetts, and gas station owners were saving all sorts of money, the price of gas to the consumer did not decrease a penny. Then the full-service pumps went in and those costs went up significantly (it was about 5 cents more per gallon for full serve than for self serve). At the time, it wasn’t such a big deal since gas was under $1 anyway. </p>
<p>But to those of you who say NJ should allow self-serve and the price at the pump will go down, I say, “Yeah, right.” The consumer won’t benefit; the gas station owner might. </p>
<p>As a former New Jerseyan, I say keep it the way it is!</p>
<p>M&Ms you beat me by about 5 minutes to providing that exact same link!</p>
<p>Very interesting that even AAA supports the NJ law.</p>
<p>The incremental cost of the law in NJ: 6 cents per gallon. </p>
<p>In other states, full service costs a heck of a lot more per gallon…if it is even available.</p>
<p>I haven’t lived in New Jersey for quite some time, but the no-pumping practice is something I see as quaint. Growing up, everyone in the neighborhood knew the man who ran our gas station because the time it took to fill the tank was usually spent chatting as he washed the windows. This guy was as clued in to neighborhood events as the mailman. I still remember the first time I drove my mother’s wagon into that station…he made a huge deal about our family’s newest driver. :)</p>
<p>If you just wait for a full three seconds after you get the click that indicates your tank is full, it won’t dribble. 
from a woman that thinks it’s no big deal to pump her own gas. Okay, until the kids turn 16 and then it’s time for them to learn. ;)</p>
<p>I also live in New Jersey, and also very much appreciate not having to get out of the car and pump my own gas, especially on freezing, rainy nights. Plus, it gives me a couple of minutes of downtime to relax, read something, check my email, make a phone call, etc., before I continue on. Not “allowed” to? That isn’t how I look at it. In fact, when I pull up to a gas station in another state, sometimes I sit there for a minute waiting for someone to come fill my tank before I realize that it isn’t going to happen, and I have to do it myself. </p>
<p>Not infrequently, the person at the station will also clean the windshield (without being asked), and they’re always willing to check the oil for you if you want them to.</p>
<p>And, yes, I’m perfectly capable of pumping my own gas. And checking my own oil. I could probably even change a tire if I had to, although the last time I started to do so, a nice man came along and offered to do it for me.</p>
<p>Donna</p>
<p>PS: I agree with Chedva that anyone who thinks the gas prices would go down if NJ went to self-serve is kidding themselves. People will end up paying the same for self-service as they did to have someone pump their gas, and paying a lot more if they want full service.</p>