From commenter Bill Poser in the Starbucks tip jar thread:
Some years ago here in British Columbia a guy filled up his car and then drove off without paying. The attendant ran after him, grabbed the door handle, got his hand stuck, and was dragged to death. This led to a successful campaign to require prepayment at gas stations, which is very inconvenient if you aren’t able to use a credit card or debit card at the pump. “Gas and dash” incidents may have been frequent enough to justify this, but that wasn’t the argument. The argument was that this measure was necessary for the safety of the attendants. Of course, all that is really required for the safety of the attendants is for them not to go running after and grabbing onto fleeing vehicles. The attendant’s death was tragic, but it was a freak accident triggered by the attendant’s brave but foolish attempt to prevent the theft of a rather modest amount of money.
Canada.com has a further report on the “B.C. WorkSafe” regulation.
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The link to Canada.com says the story is not available.
The Canada.com link is working for me. The cite is “Going to B.C.? Be prepared to prepay for gas,” Calgary Herald, January 27, 2008.
Having had pre-paid gas in the U.S. in 48 (or is it 49 states now) for some decades, I’m surpised Canada did not have it.
Inconvenient? I live in the hold-out state and I have noticed over the last couple of years it is now uncommon for attendants to carry coins in their pockets. If you need .50 change back, you have to wait while they stroll to the office to collect a pair of quarters.
Interesting how something can be a critical problem requiring intrusive legislation in one place and yet be so minor a problem elsewhere that no one’s ever heard of it. Outside of British Columbia, in the rest of Canada, most people have never even heard of the notion of having to prepay for gas, nor the notion that the lack of prepayment options puts gas station attendants at risk.
It seems to me there’s a less obnoxious way of dealing with the “gas and dash” problem. Mount surveillance cameras at the pumps and photograph the license plates of the cars filling up. Then, if someone drives off without paying, you can just pass the picture on to the police and let them deal with it.
“a less obnoxious way”
I don’t see that it is less obnoxious to add another level of surveillance and video recording of portions of our lives as opposed to having to pre-pay for gas (or any other product).
No drive thrus in Canada? Pay here, pick up at next window…
Besides the fact that these sorts of video investigations turn topsy-turvy the notion of “Innocent until proven guilty”. The State has a picture of your license tag, you have to prove that it wasn’t you who committed some infraction.
I live in BC. This caused a bit of a ruckus at first, as any change does, but is no big deal now. Most people pay by credit card anyway, so “prepay” pumps were becoming the industry standard in any event.
The legislation I think came as a result of a very vocal lobby from the victim’s family, and an outcry from the public to “do something”. I don’t think the government was chomping at the bit to do this, but was on the defensive with the electorate.
In my state, almost all gas stations require the use of a card at the pump or prepayment at a cashier. As I recall, the change happened gradually as more stations adopted the policy to ensure gas was paid for, not to ensure attendant safety.
My main point is not the inconvenience but rather the bizarre justification for the law. The inconvenience is modest, but present. If you don’t have a credit or debit card (and many poorer people don’t), it means not only having to go inside to pay first but not being able to fill up since you need to guess at an amount that will be smaller than what it takes to fill your tank. If you do have a credit or debit card, it often means having to pay twice. First you pay at the pump for gas, then you go inside, get your coffee and sandwich, windshield fluid, or whatever, and pay for that inside.
Interesting cultural difference. Down here in the Washington DC area, I can’t remember the last time I saw a pump that was not prepay. I wonder why some places changed over and some did not.
I know that we have prepay in the US. But it is the owners of the gas stations who made the decision to go Pre-pay.
Slightly different situation than a Provincial Government requiring all gas stations to go Prepay.
But for weird gas station laws in the US, look no further than Oregon and New Jersey with the no Self-Service option. Attendants at every gas station are required to pump your gas for you. It’s a safety issue after all.
I’m not sure “bizarre justification” is fair. I don’t think the government was eager to regulate this sort of thing at all. I see it more as the government’s reflexive pandering to an electorate who expects government to have prevented this tragic, but very rare, occurence. As far as the appearance “doing something” to retroactively prevent a singular tragedy goes, it was about as unintrusive as it was going to get.
… and I have encountered non-compliant stations outside of urban areas. I don’t think anyone is actively enforcing the law.
I agree that it wasn’t the government’s initiative. The justification is bizarre, but it really came from the campaign initiated by the parents of the attendant who was killed.
Where I drive–in FL and up and down I-95–pre-pay via credit/debit card is standard, but at some stations you get a few cents off the price/gallon if you pay cash. Most of the stations along I-95 have signs warning that the pumps are under video surveillance and that cops will be called to go after bolters. In fact, many of the signs are issued by the local or state police.
I had read earlier that the employer held the attendant responsible for any theft himself. Personally. Out of his own meager pay. He wasn’t running after the car for his employer, he was running after the car so he wouldn’t end up taking home squat for his day’s work.
A lot of us think the best approach would be prohibiting companies from holding employees responsible in these cases – it’s like chasing a shoplifter into the parking lot. It might occasionally save a few bucks but at a high risk to employees and bystanders. But this shouldn’t be a blanket case – someone in a jewelry store could reasonably be held to a higher standard than someone in a Target since the merchanise is far more expensive and you always want the assistant in close proximity.
As for doing nothing – see comment about ‘bystanders’ above. It would be one thing if that’s the only car around but that’s rarely the case. Who does the victim seek redress from if they’re hit by somebody punching it out of a gas station to avoid paying $50? The driver is obviously one party, but what about the gas station if its policies made the driver more aggressive than usual?
P.S., as others have pointed out in this case there’s another and much simpler solution. Require video cameras on the gas pumps that capture both vehicle license and the driver’s face and treat gas-and-dash like photo radar. Your car, your responsibility (including prosecution for theft) unless you can show that the person on the video isn’t you.