Try getting out to pump your own gas in New Jersey and you’ll likely be told to get back in your vehicle, thanks to a full-service gas law that’s still going strong.
While the rest of the country fuels up solo, Jersey keeps it old school.
Here, drivers stay in their cars while attendants do the work.
And most residents actually prefer it that way.
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A full-service gas law that started with sabotage
This all started back in 1949, when a man named Irving Reingold opened New Jersey’s first self-serve gas station.
His pitch was simple: cheaper gas, no attendants, lower prices.
It sounded like a win for drivers, but his competitors weren’t having it.
The backlash came fast. Rival station owners tried to shut him down by force, but Reingold could not be intimidated.
So they turned to lawmakers, arguing self-service was bad for business.
The state sided with Reingold’s competitors, and New Jersey’s been full-service ever since.
Plenty of other states had similar laws at the time, but one by one, they dropped them.
Oregon was the last to hold out, until it ditched the rule in 2023.
Now? New Jersey’s standing alone.
People don’t want it to change
You’d think drivers would be tired of this rule by now, but it’s actually quite the opposite.
Nearly three out of four people in New Jersey don’t want to lose full-service, unless it’s still offered as an option.
Take away that choice entirely, and most want the ban to stay.
Even Governor Phil Murphy has said changing the law would be ‘political suicide.’ And he’s not kidding – every attempt so far has gone nowhere.
Some say self-service would mean slightly cheaper gas, but experts point out that stations would likely pay more for insurance, so prices probably wouldn’t change much at all.
At the end of the day, though, it’s not really about the money.
For most New Jerseyans, it’s about comfort and familiarity.
It’s the ease of staying in your car on a freezing morning, or during a summer downpour.
It’s knowing someone else will handle the mess, the nozzle, and the fumes.
Maybe it’s habit. Maybe it’s pride. But whatever the reason, this full-service gas law works for them.
And as long as it works, they’re happy to keep it that way.
Some of the images used for this article were generated using AI
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