{"id":22276,"date":"2013-08-20T00:00:03","date_gmt":"2013-08-20T07:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=22276"},"modified":"2013-08-20T14:46:44","modified_gmt":"2013-08-20T21:46:44","slug":"oregonians-and-people-in-new-jersey-arent-allowed-to-pump-their-own-gas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2013\/08\/oregonians-and-people-in-new-jersey-arent-allowed-to-pump-their-own-gas\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregonians and People in New Jersey Aren’t Allowed to Pump Their Own Gas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"oregon\"<\/a>

Not so easy now is it? \ud83d\ude09<\/p><\/div>\n

In an era where full service gas pumping seems to be a thing of the past, Oregon not only still offers this type of service to its citizens but the “beaver state” also does not offer them any other choice –\u00a0Oregonians are not allowed to pump their own gas! Of fifty states, only two do not allow “self-service dispensing of Class 1 flammable liquids at retail”. New Jersey is the other state that keeps its drivers in the driver’s seat when filling up their tanks.<\/p>\n

When told that Oregonians aren’t allowed to pump their own gas, the first question out of people’s mouths is typically, “Really?” which is almost always followed in the same breath with, “Why?” Why on Earth would licensed drivers not be trusted to fill up on their own? It’s not exactly rocket surgery, after all. The answer lies, of course, in the State laws.\u00a0 New Jersey enacted the necessary legislature to ban people from pumping their own gas in 1949.\u00a0 This was just two years after the first self-service gas stations in the U.S. opened up in California, with the popularity of self-service exploding like the gas fires Oregon and New Jersey legislatures were so afraid of when they passed laws banning it.<\/p>\n

Oregon decided self-service was a safety hazard two years after New Jersey, in 1951, and the legislators went so far as to include 17 reasons why they think people filling up their own gas tanks is a bad idea and today you’ll get a nice $500 fine if you try to break the rule. [Editor’s note: I once tried to break it driving through Oregon in the middle of the night.\u00a0 The person who was supposed to come pump my gas didn’t come out right away, and I wasn’t inclined to wait.\u00a0 The second he saw me lift the nozzle from the machine, though, he came-a-sprinting.\u00a0 Of course, by this time, everything was set to go, but it turned out OK because the trained Gas Dispenser Technician, as I like to think of them as, was the one to pull the trigger on the dispenser nozzle. *explosion-averted* ;-)]\n

One slight change was made in 2001 in Oregon when motorcyclists successfully got the law tweaked to allow them to pump their own gas.\u00a0 Presumably it was awkward having some random person stick the nozzle between the motorcyclists’ legs as they dutifully sat on their bikes waiting to be serviced…<\/p>\n[Editor’s note: As someone who lives in Washington and occasionally has to drive through Oregon- and tries to avoid getting gas in Oregon at all costs- I’m curious; what is the etiquette on tipping<\/a> when someone pumps your gas and cleans your windshield, as seems to happen the few times I’ve ended up needing to stop for gas there?\u00a0 Is it customary to tip, or not? Inquiring minds want to know…]\n

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy our new popular podcast, The BrainFood Show (iTunes<\/a>, Spotify<\/a>, Google Play Music<\/a>, Feed<\/a>), as well as:<\/p>\n