You are right, it was to prevent morons from doing stupid things, like drive off with the hose still inserted (I've seen this twice, and once it was a guy dragging the hose behind him as he drove past my house), or filling a gas can in your pickup truck bed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sUwTHAU35E).  And, did you know you are not supposed to get back into your car (static electricity can build up on you and when you go to remove the nozzle . . . poof!) or use your cell phone while fueling?

The problem is they don't hire enough attendants, so no one is paying attention. Just stop by a mega station at Safeway or Costco and see how long it takes to get fueled.  But, you can't drive off with the hose in if they have your keys.  Unemployment in Oregon is hovering between 6.8% and 7%, so maybe they could improve both situations!

Stuart
Traveling to the Oregon coast frequently

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Dave Mcneely

Ostensibly, it is a safety thing (right!).  I had a gas station attendant in Oregon tell me that Oregon has a lower unemployment rate than the nation as a whole because of this law.  Well, there are a lot of stations, and a lot of gas station attendants in Oregon, that's for sure.

Among the information posted on all gas pumps I have seen in the past few years is a warning not to leave the pump unattended while it is operating.  At one convenience store I stopped at in Oregon a few years back the teenaged attendant was fueling a half dozen cars simultaneously.  She physically could not be present at every pump.  She just put the nozzle into the filler orifice and turned the pump on, then went to the next car.

mcneely

---- David Bjorkman <ddbjorkman@VERIZON.NET> wrote: