Hacker News Reader

Comment by JPKab | Hacker News Reader

My brother lives in Oregon.

He was complaining to me the other day that Oregon's requirement that you are not allowed to pump your own gas is an obvious COVID transmission vector.

To get gas in Oregon, he follows these steps:

1.) pull up to gas station 2.) Roll down window to hand attendant (who isn't wearing a mask, nor is required to) his debit card. 3.) Get card back from attendant. 4.) Sanitize the debit card 5.) Sanitize his hands 6.) Hope that the attendant is washing his hands, and that he didn't breathe COVID onto him through the open window.

Not saying this isn't a great, noble effort.

Just saying that, in some aspects, these states aren't doing a good job on obvious things within their own borders.

Why the hell is Oregon still doing this, and not requiring masks from gas attendants anyway? Maybe it is required, but my brother told me he has yet to have an attendant wearing a mask, so possibly not enforced???

View on HN

Oregon has already lifted the restriction on pumping your own gas, for exactly this reason.

Add "not allowed to pump your own gas" to the list of "things that are completely unnecessary and stupid that have been removed because of COVID-19 and never need to come back".

It’s a job creation/protection play, like grocery stores where the union won’t allow self-checkout. No idea if the law is achieving its goals or if it just exists because of historical inertia now, but that’s why it exists.

Where are there checkout clerk unions blocking self-check out? Not saying it's impossible, but I've lived in WA, CA, VA, DC, TX, and NY, plus 1.5 years in Australia, and going on 6 years in Canada and have consistently seen self check-out everywhere.

Oregon, yet again?

https://katu.com/news/local/initiative-looks-to-limit-number...

Oh, I know why it exists (I grew up in New Jersey, which has [had?] similar laws); I'm just reiterating that it exists for stupid reasons.

I wonder if New Jersey has done the same ..

Just wondering, is this article out of date?

https://www.koin.com/oregon-2/oregon-loosens-self-service-re...

Have they further loosened it since late March?

"Effective immediately, gas stations will be allowed to let drivers pump their own gas if they meet any of the following requirements:

The owner (of the gas station) retains documentation that there are no employees available to work as an attendant, including documentation for absences and employee hiring and retention efforts; The owner is subject to State Fire Marshal audit and has posted safety signs for how to safely operate a fuel pump; and The hours of operation under this subsection do not exceed 10 consecutive hours. “During this unprecedented time of state emergency, we need to ensure that critical supply lines for fuels and other basic services remain uninterrupted,” said State Fire Marshal Jim Walker.

Additionally, active stations must abide by the Fire Marshal’s latest guidelines:

Prepare, implement and enforce social distancing policies consistent with guidance from the Oregon Health Authority, Require an attendant to be on duty to supervise self-service refueling consistent with the social distancing policies and help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through sanitization measures, and Designate an employee at each station to implement and enforce the social distancing policies."

The above doesn't seem like it's actually self-service unless the owner has certain issues. My brother just told me he isn't seeing self-service at his area, and wasn't notified it was an option.

When pumping your own gas, you touch a pump handle and card reader that have been handled by hundreds of other people in the last few hours. Is that any better?

You can use disposable gloves and you aren't interacting directly with someone who may do something like cough on you.

I would say "Definitely yes."

I drove through oregon a while back for the eclipse for the first time ever. I'd already filled my tank a quarter of the way by the time the attendant came out and yelled at me. I was so confused.

Seen something similar at Walmart. An attendant at the self-checkout area was wiping down the scanners but wasn't wiping the keypad.

I'm curious: Was that the law before the pandemic? If so, couldn't the pandemic be a good reason to campaign to change the law so Oregonians can pump their own gas?

That law hasn't changed because it's essentially a jobs program. They did retcon equal access for the disabled / elderly in there, but the ADA covers it well enough for every other state.

It's also part of the reason you can't buy liquor at a grocery store in Oregon. If we really need more pointless jobs, I'd rather the state just hire some people to dig holes and fill them back up. At least everybody else wouldn't be inconvenienced that way.

People aren’t trained to operate a gas pump. That’s what they told me last time I visited Oregon.

They must have some very complicated gas pumps in Oregon, much more complicated than the pumps used in nearly every other US state... ;)

For all they know I could be a Certified Petrol Pump Master™.

Presumably the different colored belts (Pump Master Black Belt, etc.) let you pump different grades -- or diesel.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com