Dozens of New Jersey gas stations dropped their prices Friday to protest the state ban on self-service, as skyrocketing fuel prices hit record highs ahead of the start of summer.
The reduced prices are aimed at showing motorists how much they could save at the pumps if the Garden State were to allow people the option of pumping their own gas, organizers said.
The ban — the only one of its kind in the nation — is viewed as “silly” or “embarrassing” by critics, said Sal Risalvato of the New Jersey Gasoline-Convenience Store-Automotive Association.
“When my members encounter customers from out of state, they’re so used to pumping their gas, they jump out of their car to start pumping their gas and we have to stop them,” Risalvato told The Post. “And they think it’s ridiculous.”
But the issue continues to hit political gridlock in a state where many traditionalists want to protect the perceived sanctity of full-serve.
A bill called the Motorist Fueling Choice and Convenience Act is the latest effort to repeal the ban, but is considered a longshot to become law. Full-serve-only has become “a source of Jersey pride,” but has meant the loss of potential savings for motorists, he said.
Self-serve has been illegal in Jersey since 1949, when the Retail Gasoline Dispensing Safety Act
The law also said a self-serve option would mean higher full-service prices that would lead to “discrimination against low income individuals” who’d be subjected to the hazards of pumping their own fuel.
Supporters of the longstanding ban argue that lifting it wouldn’t have a tangible effect on gas prices and could mean a loss of service station jobs. Risalvato disagrees, noting many stations have long placed orange cones in front of working gas pumps even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Those cones that are blocking off gas pumps — those are employees that don’t exist,” he said. “What we want to do is remove the orange cone and allow you to pump your gas.”
Stations participating in the demonstration Friday will also be handing out phony $100 bills to tell customers they can save that much or more per year at the pumps if things would change, according to organizers.
The effort comes as the average gas prices in the state hit a record high on Friday of $4.502 per gallon of regular unleaded — a full 50 cents higher than a month earlier and well above the $3.057 average a year ago, according to AAA. The national average on Friday was $4.432, AAA stated.
A Monmouth University poll in April found that two out of three New Jerseyans would pump their own gas if given the option, with 54% in favor of self-serve so long as full-service remains an option. Only 21% polled believed that a change in the law would actually drive prices down, according to the survey.