New Jersey drivers may finally get to pump own gas
I might be the only person in NJ who would support self-serve gas stations since I absolutely LOVE to pump my own gas...
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - New Jersey drivers for the first time in 57 years may soon be able to pump their own gas.
In the name of safety, the Garden State has required that attendants fill up the tanks, but sky-high gasoline prices may force a change in the decades-old law, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine indicated on Thursday.
If the governor's idea takes hold, Oregon would be the only U.S. state left not to allow self-service at gas pumps.
Corzine will ask the state legislature to authorize a pilot self-service gas program to study potential savings, his office said in a statement.
New Jersey outlawed self-service gasoline stations in 1949 as a safety issue, and when most of the rest of the United States went to self-service pumps after a spike in gasoline prices in the mid-1970s, New Jersey stood fast.
"If I pay less, yeah, I'll pump my own gas," said Bob Bazzanella of Hillsdale in northern New Jersey. "As long as they keep the taxes down so we're cheaper than New York."
With a lower tax rate on gasoline than neighboring New York, New Jersey's prices are lower, even with attendants handling the pumps.
According to the AAA motor club, the average price for regular gasoline in New Jersey on Thursday was $2.87 a gallon, compared to $3.10 per gallon in New York. The national average on Thursday was $2.93.
There was no estimate given by Corzine's office how much money drivers may save if self-service is allowed.
Is Oregon planning to study self-service also?
"Not anytime soon," said Lonn Hoklin, spokesman for Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski.
There is no impetus from Kulongoski to study self-service stations, and the Oregon legislature is out of session until next January anyway, Hoklin said.
