Should New Jersey drivers be able to pump their own gas? | Pro/Con

New Jersey is a state that’s largely defined by its idiosyncrasies. For decades, one of the Garden State’s most distinctive features is a law that prohibits motorists from pumping their own gas. Indeed, New Jersey is the only state with such a ban.

That may be about to change. Recently, a bipartisan group of legislators in New Jersey introduced a bill that would allow gas stations to give drivers the option of getting their own gas.

Not everyone is excited about it.

So we asked two state residents: Should New Jersey drivers be able to pump their own gas?

By Claire Sylvester

There are few things more intrinsically New Jersey — pork roll and good pizza come to mind — than not having to pump your own gas. Sure, there are other places where “it’s a thing,” but do they have a pink bumper sticker that touts it as a claim to fame? (I’m thinking of the famous “Jersey Girls Don’t Pump Gas” sticker. You know you’ve seen it.)

So when a new piece of legislation popped up earlier this month hoping to give New Jerseyans and others traveling through the Garden State the option to pump gas for themselves, I was immediately — and adamantly — opposed.

It’s not a new debate in New Jersey — should we or shouldn’t we be able to fill up our tanks on our own? — but I doubt we have ever gotten this close, and I hope that we never get any closer.

A lot of New Jerseyans I know feel the same way. It’s a part of how we grew up, our identity. We’re from New Jersey, where the pizza is always at least decent, summers down the Shore are a way of life, and one of the first things we tell someone who asks where we are from is the exit off the closest major highway.

Hoagies or subs? Depends. Pork roll or Taylor ham? Always delicious (it’s clearly pork roll). Central Jersey? Debatable. Pump your own gas? No way.

» READ MORE: Want to pump your own gas in New Jersey? Drivers might get the option

I’ve been forming this opinion on pumping my own gas since I was a small child in the passenger seat of my mom’s car, asking the attendant for “five of regular, unleaded.” The thought never occurred to me at the time that I would ever have to exit the car and perform this task for myself.

When I began driving at 17, I still don’t think I realized that people in other states didn’t have this luxury — staying in the warm heated car during the frigid winter months, or out of the sideways rain a nor’easter may bring.

The first time I ever had to pump gas for myself, I was around age 20, driving through Delaware on my way home from visiting a friend at college. Was it difficult? No. Was it confusing? A little. Was I glad I lived in a state where I didn’t have to suffer this inconvenience, and yet, somehow, gas was still cheaper? Absolutely.

The proposed law would let stations choose to be only full-service, only self-service, or a mixture of both. Self-serve would be cheaper, so if you choose to do it yourself, you get a discount. Seems to me like those who get their gas pumped are being charged an extra fee.

“Seems to me like those who get their gas pumped are being charged an extra fee.”

And where does it end? Will we eventually see businesses lobbying legislatures to allow them to be gas-attendant-free, so the option of having your gas pumped comes off the table completely? What happens to all the people who make their living pumping gas for New Jersey drivers? Sure, it’s easy to find another job now, but this booming hiring market won’t last.

It’s a slippery slope. And for what? Are you really saving time by having to exit your vehicle to pump your own gas? Probably not.

Take a moment to check your email, reply to a text, or meditate.

Don’t make us suffer because Karen at the Circle K can’t wait an extra two minutes for the gas attendant to come back and screw on the nozzle of her gas tank.

Claire Sylvester works at Atlantic Cape Community College and lives in Egg Harbor Township.

By Sal Risalvato

To pump or not to pump? That’s the question now facing New Jerseyans after bipartisan legislation was introduced to finally give motorists the option of self-service gas.

It’s time. Actually, it’s well past the time to allow New Jerseyans the same option that motorists in 49 other states have.

I get it. Full-service gas is a Jersey thing — as Jersey as Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, and Jon Bon Jovi, the Sopranos, and pork roll, egg, and cheese on a roll.

But saving money is also a Jersey thing. Gas prices are at record levels and expected to rise further as the Russian-initiated war in Ukraine continues. And the New Jersey Gasoline, C-Store, Automotive Association, where I am executive director, predicts that allowing consumers to pump their own gas will let them save 15 cents per gallon or more.

» READ MORE: Gas prices are up. How high will they go?

It’s also a Jersey thing to be cynical. So I know you are thinking that station owners will charge for self-service what they do now and just raise the price for full-service. But I know that can’t happen.

There is no more competitive product than gasoline. It’s the only business where even a penny difference in price can make a customer drive down the road. Every station is selling basically the same product, and they all have a huge sign in front of their business advertising their price.

When people don’t like the price, they keep on driving — so retailers who don’t pass on the lower self-serve price will see their customers disappear.

But this legislative proposal isn’t just about saving money. Many Jerseyans, myself included, are pressed for time. There’s nothing more frustrating than pulling up to a gas station and waiting for an attendant who’s busy with other cars. It is even more frustrating when motorists see other pumps blocked by orange cones because there is no attendant to serve the customers. Those blocked pumps would save untold amounts of time if motorists were allowed to pump their own gas.

“There’s nothing more frustrating than pulling up to a gas station and waiting for an attendant who’s busy with other cars.”

(I’ll bet most people are unaware that it is not illegal to pump your own diesel fuel in New Jersey. But if you try to pump your own gasoline, there’s a fine. What sense does that make?)

It’s also become increasingly difficult for gas stations to hire workers, so many stations have greatly reduced their hours. Has anyone noticed there are fewer stations open late hours, or no longer offer 24-hour service? With a self-serve option, gas stations will be able to stay open later.

You may have heard that tired saw that “Jersey girls don’t pump gas.” To that I say, puh-leeze. I know thousands of Jersey girls, and I know how capable they are. And I also know it’s an insult to suggest that there’s something a Jersey girl can’t do. If a Jersey girl wants full-serve gas, she can still have it. And if she wants to pump her own gas, she can do that, too.

Let’s not complicate this. It’s really a no-brainer. This is about giving consumers a choice. Those who want to continue receiving full-service gas will have that option, and those that want to save time and money will have that option, too.

So encourage your legislators to support A3105, giving New Jerseyans the freedom and choice that the rest of America enjoys.

Sal Risalvato is executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline, C-Store, Automotive Association (NJGCA).