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I read the law, and... wow. Talk about nannying. The whole law basically amounts to "the government needs to impose more control and restrictions in order to ke
by umvi 5y ago
I read the law, and... wow. Talk about nannying. The whole law basically amounts to "the government needs to impose more control and restrictions in order to keep citizens safe"
> Retail Gasoline Dispensing Safety Act
> a. Because of the fire hazards directly associated with dispensing fuel, it is in the public interest that gasoline station operators have the control needed over that activity to ensure compliance with appropriate safety procedures, including turning off vehicle engines and refraining from smoking while fuel is dispensed.
> b. At self-service gasoline stations in other states, cashiers are often unable to maintain a clear view of the activities of customers dispensing gasoline, or to give their undivided attention to observing customers; therefore, when customers, rather than attendants, are permitted to dispense fuel, it is far more difficult to enforce compliance with safety procedures
> c. The State needs stronger measures to enforce both compliance by customers with the ban on self-service and compliance by attendants with safety procedures
> e. Exposure to toxic gasoline fumes represents a health hazard when customers dispense their own gasoline, particularly in the case of pregnant women
https://www.nj.gov/labor/safetyandhealth/resources-support/laws-regulations/gasact.shtml#3A-4 https://www.nj.gov/labor/safetyandhealth/resources-support/l...
- NikolaeVarius 5y agoI highly doubt its actually about safety and more about just making jobs.
- jkepler 5y agoI grew up there, and always heard that full-serve only was about jobs.
- astura 5y agoNowadays it's probably 44% jobs, 44% people simply like the service and 2% safety.
- awb 5y agoProbably 95% jobs, 5% safety. https://jwkblog.com/wordpress/fire-at-gas-stations-some-facts-some-statistics-and-some-prevention-tips/ https://jwkblog.com/wordpress/fire-at-gas-stations-some-fact... 5k fires/year, 61% involving vehicles so about 3k fires/year, presumably from pumping gas. But given how many billions (or maybe even trillions) of customer-pump interactions per year that’s a really low incident rate. It would be interesting to see if NJ and OR with no self-serve have dramatically lower rates but I couldn’t find that info.
- hammock 5y ago5k fires/year may not seem like much compared to the billions of non-incident pumps, but what about our limited municipal firefighting capacity? Wouldn't gas pump fires contribute to their being overloaded, unnecessarily, when all is required is a simple rule that hurts no one?
- dijonman2 5y agoGas stations have built in fire suppression. It’s a stretch to link this to firefighting capacity. Nanny states are annoying.
- hammock 5y agoIn cases when a gas station's fire suppression is triggered, in how many cases does the fire department never come out? I would estimate that they come out every time anyway.
- awb 5y agoFrom the article gas station fires cause $20M in damage annually. Not to mention toxic fumes. Even with suppression someone has to intervene to reduce it from suppressed to extinguished, and that’s usually the fire department. The numbers are very small, but it’s not nothing. The key point though would be seeing if these risks are far lower in OR and NJ, or not. Edit: $20M, not $20B
- 5y ago
- larrybud 5y agoIt’s not about jobs; it’s about entitlement. Some years back our governor at the time tried to change this and the vast vast majority of residents (not me) raised hell. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/nyregion/on-politics-outcry-over-selfserve-gas-has-corzine-in-reverse.html https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/07/nyregion/on-politics-outc... Me, I’m too type A and impatient to wait for attendants and I wish we had self serve.
- nradov 5y agoWell I guess that's one way to encourage residents to buy electric cars?
- HeavenFox 5y agoNJ resident. Being able to refuel your car without stepping outside is really nice, especially in winter. There has been attempts to repeal that law to no avail. The only drawback is if there aren't enough employees you may need to wait a while. This is especially annoying at Costco where there's always a line.
- mdavis6890 5y agoYes, sure is nice to have the option to offer or use full-service, isn't it.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- hamandcheese 5y agoI have never had the option in states where it isn’t mandated. There is no choice for the consumer regardless.
- Hamuko 5y agoWe have some amount of pump attendants in Finland despite the fact that we can actually fill up our own cars. https://www.shell.fi/motorists/inside-our-stations/palvelumestari.html https://www.shell.fi/motorists/inside-our-stations/palvelume... Personally I prefer to use a "cold station", as in, an unmanned station. Pre-pay with my phone, get out, grab a pump, stand around for a couple of minutes, get back in the car and drive off. No need to faff with people.
- gattilorenz 5y ago> Being able to refuel your car without stepping outside is really nice, especially in winter. There has been attempts to repeal that law to no avail. In most tank stations I've seen in Italy you have the served and self lines, the latter sparing you some cents/liter while in the former they will wash your windshield while the tank is getting filled up. Isn't there a serviced lane in other US states?
- hammock 5y ago>The whole law basically amounts to "the government needs to impose more control and restrictions in order to keep citizens safe" Isn't that basically the argument behind everything covid?
- dijonman2 5y ago
- bananabreakfast 5y agoIf by covid you mean general national health concerns including polio, smallpox, measles, rubella, salmonella, E. coli, cholera and ebola, then yes. That's exactly the argument behind regulation to keep us from getting sick.
- EvanKelly 5y agoTo be fair, there are many fewer deaths by wild dog/bear attack while pumping gas in NJ: https://www.cc.com/video/fz0xoa/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-pump-my-ride https://www.cc.com/video/fz0xoa/the-daily-show-with-jon-stew...