Why you still can’t pump your own gas in New Jersey

We New Jerseyans have a lot to brag about. 

From our beautiful shores, iconic musicians, actors and inventors that hail from all over the state and the unique blend of cultures no matter where you go — the Garden State is a place many are proud to represent. 

Perhaps our most underrated bragging right is the fact that we don’t ever have to leave our cars at the gas station and reach for that pump because, well, we don’t pump our own gas. We technically aren’t even allowed to. 

When the New Jerseyan ventures on a road trip to another state, they might wait in their car a little too long before realizing a gas attendant won’t be there to assist them. So why are we the only place in the country that has this luxury?

When did New Jersey ban pumping your own gas? 

For one, New Jersey has a self-service ban at gas stations dating back to 1949 with the Retail Gasoline Dispensing Safety Act, citing safety concerns in relation to fire hazards as one of the main reasons for this ban. 

Due to the potential danger from dispensing fuel, the New Jersey state law states “it is in the public interest that gasoline station operators have the control needed over that activity.”

Yet, protecting the people from fire isn’t the sole reason this law exists. 

In the late 1940s, an entrepreneur named Irving Reginald opened a massive 24-pump self-service gas station in Hackensack with much lower prices than competitors. In efforts to intimidate Reginald, some competitors enacted a spiteful drive-by shooting at his station, in Sopranos-esque fashion. 

When those attempts to stop Reginald were futile, they switched their efforts from continued violence to reforming legislation, and shortly after the Gasoline Retailers Association proposed the self-service ban, which was approved quickly. 

‘Jersey Girls Don’t (Want to) Pump Gas’

Regardless of the unpleasant and somewhat vicious origins of the self-service ban, New Jerseyans seem to be content with it. 

A 2022 Monmouth University study found that 60 percent of residents are opposed to a pump-your-own gas policy, with 54 percent supporting self-service as long as an attendant is still on duty to assist. 

People argue that full-service gas stations lead to higher gas prices due to labor costs, but Oregon, who lifted their self-service ban back in 2018 then again fully in 2023, only saw gas prices decrease by 4,4 cents per gallon during their first ban. 

Would self serve gas stations save money in NJ?

Even if the ban was repealed, gas prices wouldn’t go down by more than a few cents because the employment of full-time gas attendants lowers these stations’ insurance costs, since fewer accidents occur with less risk involved.