BALTIMORE (AP) — A Baltimore-based gas station company is being sued for charging customers for air.
The class-action lawsuit was filed recently in Baltimore City Circuit Court under a little-known but longstanding law that requires all gas stations in Baltimore to provide at least one air pump to customers free of charge.
The case arose after Rebecca McCray of Owings Mills had to pay 50 cents to inflate her tires at a Royal Farms gas station in September. The lawsuit, which could end up including thousands of plaintiffs, names Royal Farms’ parent company, Baltimore-based Two Farms, Inc.
The company operates dozens of gas stations throughout Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
A company spokesman did not return a call for comment.
The lawsuit seeks to recover money for anyone who has paid to use air pumps at the 20 Royal Farms locations in Baltimore in the past 12 years.
“One hundred percent of what was collected was illegal,” Stacie Dubnow, a Towson attorney who represents the class, told The Daily Record. Dubnow said she didn’t know how much damages could end up being recovered if the lawsuit is successful, but that it would be easy to determine based on business records she’s seeking from Royal Farms.
The lawsuit also seeks to require Royal Farms to provide air free of charge at its Baltimore locations.
The lawsuit alleges that failing to provide free air for customers’ tires “jeopardizes consumer and motor vehicle safety.” It cites federal statistics that found in 2006 that one in three cars has a significantly under-inflated tire, and that 660 traffic deaths and 33,000 injuries occur each year because of crashes related to low tire pressure.
Christine Sarames Delise, a spokeswoman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said “there is nothing frivolous” about the lawsuit.
“Making available free air will help encourage motorists to keep their tires properly inflated,” she said. “Hopefully, other Baltimore city retail gas stations will take notice and ensure they are being compliant with the city code.”
Dubnow said she believes Baltimore is the only jurisdiction in Maryland with a law requiring free air pumps, although her law firm is investigating that.
“I’m accustomed to paying for air but it only seems appropriate it should be free,” she said. “It’s air, for goodness sake.”
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