Proper Pump Etiquette

It's 5:40 p.m. and you desperately need to get gas before you get onto the freeway. And you're apparently not alone. Pulling into a crowded station and finding a place in line requires quick thinking and a cool temperament.

Mind Your Manners
The price of gasoline alone creates a hostile environment at the local filling station. In some parallel universe, you may be able to take your time and chat with other pumpers, but in this era, time is money and gasoline is even more money. While Emily Post or Miss Manners never reserved a chapter for gas station etiquette, there are a few basic rules that will reduce the possibility of pump rage.


The busiest stations are the ones with the lowest prices and the longest lines. When space allows and there's no one revving their motor behind you, it's fine to hover and wait to see which line moves fastest. But as soon as a new customer pulls onto the lot, you've got to cast your lot with one line—no more hovering.


The corollary: If a gap appears in a line, but there are obvious waiters (probably being polite enough to allow some maneuvering room for those at the pump), do not whip into that gap no matter how agile your vehicle. If you think this is an unnecessary bit of minutia, one Internet forum spent all of 12 pages discussing just such an atrocity. Judging from some of the responses, this kind of agility could be fatal.

Avoiding a Fire
Also, while this tip might sound obvious, don't pull out of the station with the nozzle still attached to your vehicle. Pumps have some form of quick release on the nozzles, apparently because this rule has been broken with some regularity, but still, schlepping up to the attendant with the nozzle in your hand is definitely a filling-station faux pas.


Not observing simple gas-station etiquette could escalate into violence, but there are real perils lurking behind the pumps. According to the Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI), Americans gas up around 11 to 12 billion times a year and during that year, approximately 100 accidents occur. The odds may be on your side, but losing this bet could be fatal.