For the first time in more than seven decades, drivers in Oregon are allowed to pump their own gas.

  • gillrmn@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Self serve drives up gas prices due to insurance. Insurance goes up due to a couple of people smoking while filling gas and gas station without anyone being the favorite place for looters. The self serve campaigns advertise how gas will come down due to it, but it actually goes up. So question is who you want to pay - insurance companies or min wage employees…

    • r00ty@kbin.life
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      1 year ago

      I live in the UK and for as long as I can remember and probably considerably before that (and I’m not young) fuel has been self service.

      I also have seen plenty of people smoking and using phones (surely the bigger danger is backfiring cars though). You know I cannot recall a single news story about a fuel station exploding due to this. I reckon that’s the kind of story that makes it onto the news. Not to say it never happens, but with the amount of fuel pumped daily, I’d expect it to be a common event yet I cannot recall a single time I heard about it happening.

      So, feels like insurance companies fear mongering stations into higher payments to me. Sure it’s possible, but highly unlikely.

      • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Because it is bull. A cigarette doesn’t burn hot enough to light gas on fire. If anything it would be the wood matches, you know that thing no one has anymore. There is a reason why sailors are allowed to smoke on tankers.