August 27, 2016
At a recent town hall meeting in Bordentown, New Jersey where Gov. Chris Christie promoted a funding plan, a sensitive subject near and dear to the state's residents arose.
Ah, self-serve gas. New Jersey is the last state in the entire nation to make it illegal for residents to pump their own fuel into their own vehicles after Oregon lifted its ban on a 64-year-old tradition last year.
Christie said the only reason the state keeps the rule is because New Jerseyans want it to stick around, NJ.com reported.
And, it's mostly women who prefer for someone else to do the work for them, he said.
"This is an incredible gender issue," Christie said at the meeting and NJ.com reported. "We polled this over and over. The last poll we did on this question, 78 percent of New Jersey women said they were opposed to self-serve gas. 78 percent! You can't find 78 percent of people in New Jersey who agree on anything!"
It's not clear what poll the once presidential hopeful was referencing, but he also said that 52 percent of men are against pumping their own gas.
He has a point.
A 2012 poll conducted by researchers at Farleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey found that 63 percent of the participants supported a ban on self-serve gas.
"People who are more conscious of the dirtier aspects of pumping your own gas are more likely to say it's really a heck of a convenience to have somebody else pump it and not have to worry about it," Peter Woolley, the poll director, told Newsworks. "Whether it's raining, it's sleeting or it's snowing, somebody else has got to pump that gas for you."
The ban has been in place since 1949 and was initially established as a public safety precaution.
"I’d just rather not do it, honestly," Tania Dellapiazza told NJ.com after the 2012 poll was released. "It’s not the end of the world if I did have to, but it’s one of my pet peeves when I’m visiting relatives out of state."
