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I wonder if GP is trolling. Having spent time in NJ visiting family, I've researched this issue a bit and have never found any logic to support the ban on self-

I wonder if GP is trolling. Having spent time in NJ visiting family, I've researched this issue a bit and have never found any logic to support the ban on self-service pumps – beyond corruption, politics, etc. The one interesting thing I did find is that many disabled motorists have a very hard time using self-service pumps – while still being able to drive safely with vehicle modifications. The Americans with Disabilities Act even has a requirement that gas stations provide refueling assistance, with some exceptions. (http://www.ada.gov/gasserve.htm http://www.ada.gov/gasserve.htm) That still doesn't mean self-service should be banned. At most, it's argument for requiring gas stations to have >=1 full-service pump. The other funny thing is that many NJ natives seem to really like using full-service pumps and want to keep the ban. And because they have low gas taxes and import so much fuel, NJ still has some of the cheapest gas in the country. So, there's not much political will to change it – despite the inanity.

GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
We are rapidly moving towards making lots and lots of jobs on the low end of the skill spectrum obsolete. (and plenty of medium-to-high skill jobs as well) Non-self-service stations provide a lot of employment opportunities.
- Tenhundfeld 12y ago
  Yeah, that argument doesn't work for me. Creating arbitrary, unnecessary inefficiencies in the market does not benefit a society economically in the long-run – and is bad mechanism for wealth redistribution. Why not ban ATM's to provide bank teller employment? Or ban self-checkout at grocery stores? Let's not forget all of those poor elevator operators out of work. Maybe we should go around breaking windows to create work for local glaziers? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window) I appreciate the sentiment of wanting to provide low-skill employment opportunities, but this is not the way to do it. It's provably bad logic.

GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago

We are rapidly moving towards making lots and lots of jobs on the low end of the skill spectrum obsolete. (and plenty of medium-to-high skill jobs as well) Non-self-service stations provide a lot of employment opportunities.

Tenhundfeld 12y ago
Yeah, that argument doesn't work for me. Creating arbitrary, unnecessary inefficiencies in the market does not benefit a society economically in the long-run – and is bad mechanism for wealth redistribution. Why not ban ATM's to provide bank teller employment? Or ban self-checkout at grocery stores? Let's not forget all of those poor elevator operators out of work. Maybe we should go around breaking windows to create work for local glaziers? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window) I appreciate the sentiment of wanting to provide low-skill employment opportunities, but this is not the way to do it. It's provably bad logic.