It's Time for Some Gas Station Innovation

Isn't it about time we reinvent the average gas station?

A (seemingly) simple idea to revolutionize the common fill-up stop: automatic pumps

Instead of having to get out of your car or have somebody walk up to your car to pump gas, I would think there would HAVE to be a way to automate this mundane process. I'm no engineer or inventor, but let's do away with this current system. There's nothing pleasant about this task and for those folks who have to pump gas to make a living, I truly feel for them because it is a thankless, messy job.

Instead of the current manual pump system, an automatic pump would minimize or completely eliminate:

-Having to trudge out of your car on a snowy or rainy or scorching hot day
-The ever-pleasant gasoline smell on one's hands after filling the tank
-Toxic gas spillage on the ground
-The delay it takes for a gas station attendant to come to your car to ask what you want, start the pump, walk away to help somebody else, come back, top it off, get your payment, swipe your card (or count your cash), and finally send you on your way... this is totally inefficient for all involved
-Idling time as you wait for the pump to finish, and as other cars wait in line for the cars in front of them to finish filling up

All in all, the current manual system we have has no real advantage to it, as far as I can tell. An automatic system would still require at least one person to be on premises to monitor any problems, help people as needed, or, like the good ole' days, squeegee each car's windows.

Now let's get pumping on how to make this happen...