What is proper gas station etiquette?
A Florida-based Etsy artist voiced a pet peeve while waiting in line at a Wawa convenience store.
She also raised a question: Should you be allowed to leave your car while it’s parked at the pump?
Brittany McNabb (@nicolebybritt) posted her musings to TikTok on Monday. So far, the video has over 58,700 views.
What happened in the Wawa line?
“One of my husband’s biggest pet peeves,” McNabb says at the beginning of her video, “is when you park at the pump and leave.”
She then zooms her camera onto a car parked at the pump ahead of her in line at Wawa. The driver has done just that.
“Mind you, this is 24 hours before hurricane Milton is expected to wipe out my state of Florida,” she notes in the video’s caption.
“There’s lines here at the Wawa,” she states, panning her camera to show cars waiting to get to the pumps, “and this goober puts the thing [gas nozzle] in, it’s not even clicked, and goes inside!”
What is proper gas station etiquette?
There’s no such thing as a set of gas station etiquette rules set in stone (or in law books).
However, there are “unwritten” behaviors that most experts agree customers should follow while fueling.
When it comes to parking at the pump, Jalopnik states, “Don’t do it. You never know when a rush will suddenly fill up every pump, and you certainly don’t want to slow down fueling on a busy day.”
GasBuddy advises. “If you’re done pumping gas but decide you want to grab a soda or slice of pizza inside, be courteous and move your car to one of the parking spaces near the store to free up the pump for other drivers.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Wawa for a statement about its policy on parking at the pump.
@nicolebybritt Mind you this is 24 hours before #hurricanemilton ♬ original sound – Nicole by Britt
Is this illegal?
McNabb notes that the customer hadn’t “clicked” on the pump’s nozzle, meaning the gas was not pumping.
Although she was annoyed, it’s safer that they left it off—not to mention legal.
One of McNabb’s viewers commented, “It’s actually against the law” to leave your vehicle while it’s at the pump. However, that’s not technically true.
It may be rude, but it is not illegal to park your car next to the pump.
In many states, such as California, it is illegal to leave your car while the pump is on and fueling, according to CarParts.
What do viewers think of gas station etiquette?
Some of McNabb’s viewers admitted that they had parked at the pump before.
Amanda Towner (@amandatowner2) wrote, “I never leave the nozzle in the hole but, I do finish pumping and run inside without moving. If there were lines though, I would definitely move.”
“I don’t think there’s nothing wrong with parking at the pump as long as you do it when they aren’t busy,” another viewer added.
Most viewers agreed with her stance, though.
“I was stuck behind someone the other day that was sitting in her car 10 minutes BEFORE EVEN GETTING OUT TO START PUMPING. I was livid when I saw her step out,” blahblah1980 (@marissaliley) commented.
Another viewer wrote,” My biggest pet peeve is when people park at the pump and not pump. Just use it as a parking spot! Ugh. I hate that!”
“I did it once and then almost drove off with it attached. Never again,” one viewer admitted.
The Daily Dot reached out to McNabb via TikTok and Instagram direct message for further comment.
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