The Places In The World Where You Can’t Pump Fuel Yourself — Mina Gorgyos
Earlier this week, the US state of Oregon lifted its 70-year-old ban on self-service refuelling for two days to protect gas station attendants from a heatwave. This led to a bizarre situation that saw many motorists having to pump fuel themselves for the first time in their lives. The Oregonian even posted a ‘how-to’ video on YouTube to guide self-service fuel virgins through the process.
For much of the world, where self-service refuelling is an accepted part of motoring life, this will seem very strange. Oregon isn’t alone in barring customers from picking up a petrol or diesel pump, though.
In New Jersey, the Retail Gasoline Dispensing Safety Act and Regulations has been in force since 1949, making full-service the only way to refuel. The ban can be traced back to a price war in Bergen County, with legislators said to be pressured by retailers ganging up on entrepreneur Irving Reingold for undercutting them via the use of self-service.
The official reason given was one of safety, and once enacted, the law never changed. NJ is now the only US state to feature a blanket ban — in 2018, House Bill 2482 eased Oregon’s rules slightly, allowing self-service at standalone pumps in counties with populations up to 40,000.
There have been several unsuccessful attempts to fully bin the laws in both states. Proponents of laws prohibiting self-service refuelling cite safety concerns, but this isn’t anything like as relevant an issue as it was when these laws were first enacted decades ago. These days, petrol stations are very safe places, and incidents are rare.
In fact, when quoted by a local news outlet a couple of years ago regarding the ban in Weymouth, Massachusetts, Jeff Lenard of the National Association for Convenience Stores noted that self-service pumps are in theory safer in the region since they have state-mandated fire suppression system. In Weymouth, it’s been illegal to refuel yourself since 1977. A similar ban in Huntingdon, Long Island has existed from the same decade, although a couple of years ago there was talk of repealing this.
Plenty of self-service bans exist away from the US, too. In South Africa, Section 2A(5)(b) of the Petroleum Products Act prohibits customers from filling themselves. Strikes organised by filling station attendants in 2013 and 2020 have caused many to ponder the adoption of self-service.
