Crosstalk: Should ban on pumping gas be lifted?

I’ve personally coasted down every hill between Maupin and The Dalles with a close eye to the gas gauge while I mulled the logistics of spending the night on the side of the road when the fumes ran out.

Having once (or twice) learned that lesson, like most rural drivers I include gassing up on the list of things to do before heading out of town.

Still, things don’t always go as planned and making gas available after hours makes sense.

Such a change is almost certain to inspire discussion of the bigger question: Why not allow self-service gas statewide?

Originally, opposition to self-service gas was a safety question. Gasoline is highly explosive and environmentally damaging.

I’ve seen for myself that, although pumps today incorporate a great many safety features, they are not “fool proof.” I remember watching one fool gas up his boat. He insisted on pumping exactly 10 gallons – presumably to get the gas and oil mixture correct – and refused to acknowledge that his tank would not hold ten gallons of additional gas. It made a mess at the station, and one can imagine the damage he did on the water.

Yet most Americans pump their own gas, and do so safely.

When self-service pumps were developed to allow automatic payments, the argument against self-service changed from safety to economics.

Such pumps were expensive for a station to purchase and install and, at the time company-run service stations competed directly with independent stations, often only blocks apart.

The fear was that only company-owned stations could afford the technology, leaving local owners at a disadvantage.

That argument is no longer valid, as the vast majority of stations are now independently owned.

Why do I object, then, to self-service gas?

It seems to me we have replaced enough of our work force with robots. I hate to see the 9,000 or so Oregonians pumping gas throughout the state today joining the ranks of the lumber-mill workers who have been replaced by automatic graders and sorters, the agriculture workers replaced by ever-larger farm machines and the grocery tellers replaced by automatic checkout systems.

Eliminating these jobs for the sake of convenience is wrong.

Besides, I really hate pumping my own gas.

by RaeLynn Ricarte

I have managed to pump my own gas for years without becoming a flaming torch, as have millions of other people in the 48 states without bans on self-service, so I think it is good that Oregon is revisiting this issue.

Safety concerns were the primary reason given for passing the law in 1951 that prohibits people in Oregon from pumping their own gas.

However, that reasoning doesn’t stand up to scrutiny when only Oregon and New Jersey ban self-service and there are not regular reports that people and vehicles are being incinerated in other states due to an inability to handle a fuel pump.

I also don’t agree with the argument that we need to retain the “hands off the pump” restriction to protect jobs because I don’t think government should force station owners to hire people they don’t need.

Especially in rural areas where small businesses are already struggling to keep the doors open.

Oregonians currently pay 3 to 5 cents more per gallon to cover the cost of a station hiring attendants to pump gas. And face a $500 fine for filling their own tank.

Having self-serve gas would be a bonus for small business owners because they could continue to make money even when no one was on duty.

I support House Bill 3011, which was approved unanimously by the state House of Representatives in April, and is expected to go to the floor of the Senate for a vote in the near future.

The measure allows motorists to pump their own gas in counties with populations of 40,000 or less when no owner or staff is available at a gas station.

Half of the 36 counties in Oregon would qualify for this exception to the existing law, including Wasco, Hood River, Sherman, Wheeler and Gilliam counties.

Although it is not always pleasant to fill the tank — it is easy for a novice to end up with dribbles of petrol on your shoes — it is something that every motorist can learn to do.

I have offered to teach Mark this skill that I picked up while living for almost 30 years in Washington.

Of course, it hasn’t saved motorists any money in Washington to pump their own gas, since the state’s gas tax is 7.5 cents per gallon more than in Oregon. It is the nature of government to look for any opportunity to score a few extra bucks, but that is an argument for another day...

Approval of HB 3011 will be a rare win for the 7.5 percent of Oregon’s population that resides in rural counties.