I live on the south shore and had no idea self service was illegal in Weymouth.Submitted by noble_29 t3_125v64p in massachusetts
Hoosac_Love t1_je68xgp wrote
I know new Jersey does not have self serve.
Does anyone know the reason why they ban it?
BradMarchandsNose t1_je6du0w wrote
The reasoning when they made the law ~70 years ago was that it was a safety concern. Really, the full service gas stations relied on their garage business to make most of their money, it was a way to keep a guy out there who could look at your car and potentially sell you service in addition to the gas, while also not having to compete with lower-cost self-service stations.
The reason it’s still a law is that every time it comes up, politicians will cite the potential job losses and just continue to kick it down the road.
Hoosac_Love t1_je6h5os wrote
People believed false things like:
Smoking and pumping gas is dangerous,not really true,it's really the fumes that are dangerous and they disapate in air and liquid gas will only ingnite with a blue flame,if you put a ciggarette in a bicket of gasoline it will actually go out.
​
Pumping gas while a car is running is dangerous,no not at all,cabbies have for years pumped gas while the engine ran to save gas by keeping the car running 24 hours per day.If pumping gas to a running car was dangerous millions of cabs would already have exploded.
BradMarchandsNose t1_je6k1s1 wrote
Pumping gas into a running car isn’t dangerous most of the time. There’s still a very very slim chance of an electrical spark or something igniting the vapors. Gas stations put those signs up because it’s a liability issue mostly.
Hoosac_Love t1_je6km2u wrote
True
nieuweyork t1_je6ysie wrote
> pumped gas while the engine ran to save gas by keeping the car running 24 hours per day
How does this work? Why does it save gas to unnecessarily run the engine for ~2 minutes?
BradMarchandsNose t1_je74vlc wrote
Older carbureted engines would use a lot of fuel to start up, so there was a “5 minute rule.” If you were stopping for less than 5 minutes, it would use more gas than letting the car idle. I have no idea if this is true or not scientifically, but that was what people said. These days though, that’s not the case at all. They build cars now that stop the engine at a stoplight and start it back up again 10 seconds later because it’s more efficient with modern engines.
puppydogbryn t1_je73d1w wrote
It does save fuel to shut the engine off. You only waste fuel if you keep it off for like less than 15 seconds.
SileAnimus t1_je8f8va wrote
Pumping gas while your car is running is bad because you'll very likely set off an evap gross leak code if your purge valve is off. Stupid way to get a check engine light.
majoroutage t1_je75gvy wrote
From what I've heard, it's a racket, and not one that is going to go quietly.
The one time I stopped on the Garden State Parkway to fill up, we had to wait for the attendants to get done with whatever illegal substances we totally didn't witness them inhaling and stumble their way back from the side of the garage.
These are definitely jobs that they can't just randomly hire and fire people, if you know what I mean.
billatq t1_je8eirl wrote
Easiest way to get an attendant to show up from out of nowhere to pump it is to pretend it's self-serve and start pumping on your own.
SomeSortofDisaster t1_je6fddp wrote
Not sure about NJ but in OR it's a "safety concern".
It's really just a jobs program for high school dropouts.
Hoosac_Love t1_je6hkxy wrote
In reality if perfectly safe to pump gas into a running car and pumping gas while smoking is also perfectly safe.It these things wern't safe millions of cars would have blown up years ago.
es_cl t1_je76wv4 wrote
Seems counterproductive. Why not promote GED, trade school education or other forms of secondary education? Lol
Sirhc978 t1_je6e6wp wrote
Originally it was because they literally didn't trust motorists to do it themselves. They have tried a few times in recent history to end the ban, but it always fails in one way or another.
Hoosac_Love t1_je6htdx wrote
Most of the things people thought about pumping gas being dangerous were just simply untrue
D-Incognito t1_je7o8iz wrote
I don't know what the initial justification was, but I did learn that it is beneficial to some drivers.
I went to college in NJ and had a friend in a wheelchair who had a car. He certainly appreciated that all gas stations were full-serve.
dancognito t1_je83fsj wrote
Honestly, they just ain't that bright down there. Good people, but yikes.
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