What bad things can happen if you leave your car running when u pump gas?

Well Jim your mother was half right - because you CAN burp, sneeze and fart all at the same time without death - been there done that too.

Pull my finger!!!

 

Why does the rule exist of shutting off your car while pumping gas. The City Fire Code requires this rule. The Fire Code has been developed mostly by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) over about the last 100 years. The gas pumping rules are based on the cumulative experience of thousands of fires and accidents at gas stations since gasoline has been sold in this country over the last 90 years or so. Laboratory research and accident analysis has also contributed to these rules.

Need I go on? The rules are based on the need to PREVENT fires and injuries and deaths resulting from the fires. Even though the probability may TO YOU seem small, the Fire Dept. experience shows that it can happen so shut off the car.

As far as the owner enforcing the rule? The Fire Marshal and his deputies, the Fire Dept. have the authority to pull his City operating permit and shut him down until they are satisified that the Fire Code will be enforced by the owner. That could be weeks or months.

I'll get off my soap box and stop the lecture. An earlier poster said it best. The lady with the SUV and the little kids didn't bargin for you not following the rules. Be polite and thoughtful of your neighbors. Keep everybody safe.

 

A little o/t, but when they fuel an airplane they have a ground strap from the plane to the ground because of the dangers caused by static electricity. On the other hand...I was a professional firefighter for over 30 years and never went to a fire at a service station caused by pumping with then engine running. But why take a chance and be the one in a million it happens to.
Just my 2 cents.

 

There is NO know case of a cell phone starting a fuel fire !The cell myth has been disproven on several occasions including the one on Myth Busters !the static charge one has been PROVEN several times simplWhen working in a radiator shop the y be sure to put a bare hand on any metal part of the car body before inserting the fuel nozzle into the tank inlet .When this form of ignition does happen it is most often caused by a young person not because of anything to do with smarts but because young healthy people are most likely to just stand up from a vechile without the aid of the door or some other part of the car to pull themselves up!They are also most likely to jump back into the vechile while filling up.IF you should ignite a pump hose DO NOT remove it from the fuel inlet leave it and get away from the vechile believe it or not this is the LEAST dangerous thing to do!flame will come out of the neck but the car won't explode as TV loves to portray!I have had to respond to a fuel tank fire in a repair shop that was ignited by a broken drop light bulb and the tank never even showed a buldge never mind explode!no matter how you used to do it if you must work around a gas tank DO NOT use a conventional drop light use only a covered flouresent type this fire was caused by a couple drops of gas hitting the bulb when the mechanic pulled a rubber line free,Also when first learning gas tank repair the owner of the shop purposely ignited a fuel tank to show 2 of use trainees how to handle this situation should it occure!the first test we did on a tank before any repair was to blow air through the tank and pass a flame over the inlet with just 2 openings, IF it were to ignite we removed the flame first and the compressed air would simply blow out the flame !Other than durung this training I never had a tank ignite.I'm not trying to rob this thread or be a smart ass but I have had to deal with these situations a lot and just want my friends here on the HAMB to be safe sorry if this offends anyone it's not my intentThe test I refer to were done by the NFTA and they don't even know how the cell phone myth got started but fuel station chains keep it going

 

when i was young i had an experance that showed how a gas fire works. i was at a beach party and someone asked me to take this quart of gas and pour it on a pile of wood and light it to get the fire going, so i did, just poured the whole thing on the wood then tried to strike a paper match, didnt light, tried a couple more, finely one took, well by that time the gas fumes had made about a 30ft dia. circle all around the fire and up it went. a perfect mushroom cloud. if there would of been a 1/2 full gas tank there there would be no doubt it would of went to. i came away with only a few singed hairs and this story. for every gallon of gas you put in your tank out comes a gallon of rich gas fumes that when mixed with the surounding air can and at times does ignite.

 

Here's how they do it in France. On purpose, for fun! Gotta love those Frenchies and their riots.

pigpen

 

When I was a kid I worked for a farmer that repaired his own equipment. We always had cut off bottoms of small grease barrels with gasoline for cleaning parts, even while welding. I was always amazed at the berries from the welding landing in those pans of gasoline and there never was an ignition.

 

I used to work at a Speedway gas station and one day I shut off a pump on one guy and he came in and went off on me with that kinda attitude. He even went into this whole 'do you know who I am?
' thing. Apparantly, his niece was the ASSistant manager. I politely told him that I didn't care who he was that laws were laws and no one person was worth me loosing my job. There was actually a couple of DOT cops standing right there in the shoppe that walked up and asked me if there was a problem. I told them to ask this guy and went on to help the next guy in line.

They took him aside and spoke to him for a good long time. He came up to me afterward, appoligized, prepaid for his fuel, pumped it and left. I never saw him again. His niece, my boss never said anything about it either.

I've shut pumps off many times. Never bothered me. Like I said, laws are laws. It's a 'common good' thing I guess. The cell phone thing on Mythbusters isn't a law yet... YET.

I'm kinda anal about things like this at gas stations now. I really hate it when people pull up to the pumps closest to the front door and use those spots as their own reserved parking spots. That really burns me.

Vance

 

I don't remember exactly where I saw this but a guy using those little compressed air cans to blow dust off things like computer key boards used a can to clean the dash of his new pick up truck when he was done he lit a cigarrette the truck looked like someone blew it with a pound of C4!seems some of these so called canned air sprays are just uncented PROPANE!if you have any around READ the lable on it

 

I think it would make filling up at the gas station a lot more exiting if you knew every once in a while someone would just mysteriously burst into flames.

I bet it would cut down on fuel consumption.

 

In the 40's and 50's they use to have ground straps on cars. If you looked under a car as it was driving in front of you could see them hanging down up near the motor or trans usually.

 

I think it really depends on whether you're in the car reving it up and hitting the flame throwers for others to see??

 

Ok, the science is yes, you could really ignite gas vapors. However, you'd have to have a means of accumulating the gas vapors in a relatively small space and an ignition source...like cell phone, cigarette. It's highly, very highly unlikely that your car ignition would ignite gas fumes unless you had a carb leak on the manifold (or somewhere which would vaporize the gas) and then the spark from the high output coil could ignite those fumes...or you could have a backfire and due to heavy air, have fumes accumulating down low near exhaust.

Yes, it's possible (seen a car and person who's cell phone ignited fumes...not pretty), but very very unlikely.

 

all in all, it could happen!! Fire is serious shit and what could goes wrong, goes wrong!!
In RI here we have the Station fire to remind us of weird things falling into place & starting a fire, theres 100 less people would would love to be told to "turn off your engine" at the gas pumps.
Also fire is a horrorible way to die.One of the worse!!
JimV

 

ok so how long does it take to fill up? Shut the goddamn car off fill the fucker start it if you must and go pay. I filled up the other morning and it was fucking cold. I filled went in and payed got back in my truck and started it up and went to work. You guys need to quit spending your money on your cars and buy some warm jackets or coats.. Pussys
Dave

 

How 'bout a heated TRAILER?!

 

Ahh gas stations with food .,. Lets pump our gas and leave the goddam car by the pump while we go inside and order burgers for everyone in the fucking car Then we all get our overweight fat asses back to the car .. Shit i wanted extra ketchup for my goddam fries Il just run back in cause we only been at this pump for like 15 minutes since we got gas. The place is full its payday and everyone needs gas. Im fucked cause i need it too i should have planned better. Note to self...Next time bring a case of ho ho's and offer bunches of em to the fat chicks to get em to move thier fuckin cars..
Dave

 

On a recenr cold day I was filling up my Dodge Deisel & got out started pumping went inide the truck waited after a while I looked @ the pump & it stopped maybe 5 gal ,so I restarted it went in again same thing ,went in had a discussion w/the young girl behind the counter & asked if this law applies to Diesel she claimed yes.
I told her I've been getting gas here f/years & never had a problem,she just smailed & I guess she felt like she had a little power & said if I don't like it go somewhere else.I told her I hope she has a nice day & that Diesel fumes won't ignite like gas.
So now I just fillup somewhere else,

 

It is definitely possible to burp, fart, and sneeze at the same time without injury while pumping gas.

I heard if you sneeze with your eyes open while pumping gas, your eyeballs will pop right out of your head and dangle by the nerves.

Someone also told me if you light your farts while pumping gas, the flame can find the gas inside your intestine and blow you up, thereby igniting your car and blowing it up, too.

I wear a flame retardant drag racing suit and a fireman's helmet whenever I pump gas, even in the summer. My wife really hates it when I go around to each pump and yell at the other patrons for breaking rules or not wearing proper safety gear.

 

I'm to lazy to read every reply, so I'll just throw in my .02. Ever get out of your car and get a static shock? static can build up cause your sittin in your warm car while gas pumps, if it doesnt discharge until you tuch the pump, it can ignite the fumes. Cigerettes do not burn hot enough to ignite gasoline. the movies have been lying to you. Mythbusters says so.

 

i believe some people see things more clearly with one eye than most people with 2.

 

Dave, this regularly happens at the BP closest to my house and it's usually the clowns going in for their morning coffee and smokes.

Vance

 

Lots of great bullshit on here....

Cellphones will not/can not ignite fumes - there are no sparks in your cellphone.

Over 90% of gas pump fires are caused by static electricity & over 80% of those are caused by women - women get back in their cars more frequently than men do, wear clothing more likely to generate static, and shouldn't be driving at all in the first place! (OK, maybe kidding on the last bit!)

 

Nothing....

Really....

Roadrat

 

. i just want to know WHY.

To appease the sue happy mofo's out there. People don't give a rats ass anymore. They will sue over the dumbest little things. This being one of them.

 

"Little Slurpee Jockey" is right up there with "Coffee Cake Snatch'en Fat Lady" , I'm totally stealing that one.

The underground storage system we use is very safe. As long as you stop pumping the gas electrically whatever goes wrong you can save with a fire extinguisher.

 

Well I did not get my eye shot out with a bb gun, but when I was 3 years old I was playing with a Steel Rod, and got in trouble so i put it back on the shelf in the garage, and it rolled off and poked my right eye out. It was screwed anyway, but the great and wonderful navy Dr.s of 1977 did not think it was big deal, sedated me , and drove me several hours(back then) to the veterans hospital in San Antonio(from corpus christi) instead of flying me, or flying a surgeon in or sending me to another hospital. Anyhow point is 90%of the muscles in my eye are gone. In high school my buddy had his eye shot out and is blind now as the result of the neighbor shooting cats, that missed the cat, and got him in the eye. The neighbor did not even know he was in the back yard.

 

damn near froze my eyes out of their sockets pumping gas tonight. with the engine running ofcourse!

 

guess my buddy's really hardcore. He shot his eye out with the gas pump while burping up a half cooked burrito the ex 'bobbing for fries' mickey dee's reject didn't nuke long enough. He sneezed on the way to the hospital and farted in the doctors face.