Show of hands, who wants to pump their own gas?? I sure don't and the editors at the Asbury Park Press feel the same:
A bill will be introduced in the state Assembly next month that would lead to the elimination of full-service gasoline within three years. The bill's sponsor, Declan O'Scanlon, R-Monmouth, says the bill would eliminate inconvenient waits at the pump.
Drivers in New Jersey may soon be pumping their own gas if a bill to be introduced next month by Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, R-Monmouth, becomes law.
Show of hands: How many of you would prefer to have an attendant fill up your tank for you, particularly in lousy weather? If you raised your hand, you're in the majority. A 2012 Fairleigh Dickinson University/PublicMind found that 63 percent of New Jerseyans want to keep full-service pumps.
Under O'Scanlon's proposed bill, which would be similar to self-service legislation introduced by state Sens. Gerald Cardinale and Paul Sarlo, the act of pumping your own gas would be decriminalized and self-service islands would be authorized. Gas stations would be required to operate at least one full service gas pump island for three years, and gas retailers would be allowed to charge a lower price at the self-service pumps.
The main reason cited by O'Scanlon for changing the law is that it would eliminate inconvenient waits at the pump. Others supporting a change say it would help reduce gasoline prices — a claim that has not been born out by the 48 states that have self-serve.
If long waits at the pump are a problem at some service stations, the solution is a simple one: take your business to a service station where you don't have to wait. Gas stations aren't monopolies. Consumers have plenty of choices....Continue Reading...
