Plan Could Bring Self-Service Gas To New Jersey

Rather than standing alone as the last remaining state in the country to only offer full-service gas stations, New Jersey is looking to take self-service fuel pumping for a test drive.

A new bill set to be introduced in the state assembly by Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, would bring in the self-service option but also keep the full-service option available to motorists, according to the politician’s website.

The bill comes just a few weeks after Oregon, the only other state in the country to ban self-service gas stations, made a U-turn and passed a bill through its house that would allow self-service stations in more desolate areas of the state.

If the bill were to pass in New Jersey, each station would be required to have at least one full service gas pump island for three years.

“The time has come for New Jersey to join the other 48 – soon to be 49 – States that allow self-service gas,” O’Scanlon said on his website. “The prohibition of self-service is an antiquated law, long overdue for a second look. No one can come up with a justified reason to criminalize the act of pumping one’s own gas. This is just another area with which New Jersey’s laws must move ahead with the times.”

While the bill has yet to reach anyone in the state legislature, O’Scanlon is already being met with resistance by his colleagues.

Senator Jeff Van Drew, D-01, is sponsoring bill S1331, which would uphold New Jersey’s ban on self-serve gas stations.

“New Jersey implemented its ban on self-service decades ago and has continued to uphold it based on a myriad of reasons, from protecting the safety of our residents to providing safeguards for our most vulnerable populations,” Van Drew said in a statement Monday. “There continue to be ample reasons to keep this ban in place.”

Van Drew pointed to the Americans with Disabilities Act, and said self-service gas stations leave those with disabilities vulnerable and in need of assistance.

What do you think, New Jersey? Should the state go half and half, allowing for full service and self service gas stations?