How much are you paying for a gallon of gas these days? Around here the price is hovering around $3.50. Outrageous! But, not as bad as in Aspen, Colorado where unleaded gas prices recently broke the $4 mark. If you think that’s bad consider this: some disabled drivers are getting socked even harder because they can’t get out of their cars to pump gas themselves.
Some gas stations are charging disabled drivers up to 50 cents more a gallon for the same fuel you and I are filling our vehicles with. I learned about the gas rip-off during a recent trip to fuel up my own car. A beautiful (it looked like it was freshly washed) black Cadillac Escalade pulled up to a pump located on the end of the fueling section I was at on Sunday. About 15 seconds after it drove in the driver began to honk the horn… over and over and over again. At first I wondered if the horn had a short, but a couple of minutes later a gas station employee came out and began pumping gas into the Escalade. I wondered if the man driving the Escalade was the gas station’s owner—he wasn’t. I found out what was really going on when I went into pay and learned about the rights of the disabled at the pump.
Did you know that there is a little known law (which varies from state-to-state) that maintains that full-service gas stations are obligated to provide gas to people who have disabilities at the self-service price? What’s more, at self-serve stations, if there’s more than one person on duty, a gas station worker has to come out and pump the gas. (Hence the honking by the guy in the Escalade—he was trying to get the attention of the attendant.)
The problem is some disabled drivers are unaware of the law and often get ripped off having to pay the full-service price, which usually averages about 50 cents more than the self-service price. On the flip side, according to the gas station employee I spoke with, some stations don’t even know it’s the law and fill up a disabled person’s vehicle as part of customer service.
In defense of the man driving the Escalade, he did have his handicap permit displayed in full-view. Of course that didn’t stop other customers (myself included) from wondering why he was laying on the horn. I’m sure the experience wasn’t thrilling for him either. To make matters easier on all parties involved some newer stations are installing call buttons that signal gas station employees that a driver needs assistance.
Related Articles:
The Great American Gas Out Fizzles Out
Paying More At The Pump… And For Pizza?