Leaving engine running while filling up with gas

how old is this guy? 16?

If I were sitting in someones car and they left the engine running while refueling I wouldnā€™t jump out and call a cab or get too bent out of shape but I would make a mental note to pay attention to other signs of anti social/egocentric traits to determine whether the person should be avoided. The greatest threat to safety in leaving an engine running while refueling is the car dropping into gear or being accidentally bumped into gear by a passenger. But there are laws in most states requiring that the engine be turned off and it makes no sense to endanger others or worry others over such a trivial detail.

BTW, does he like strawberries?

How old are you two? His actions suggest an immature driver, and his practice at the pump is dangerous. Iā€™ve attached the National Fire Protection recommendations on this, which in many states are made statutory (law).
http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/for-consumers/vehicles/service-station-safety

But I have to be honestā€¦I cringe when I think fo all the dumb things I did as a youth. You clearly are a lot more mature that he. I suspect you could do a lot better for a boyfriend. However most of us grow up, and if heā€™s a good and caring person perhaps Iā€™m being too judgemental.

Law or not, every single gas pump around here has a standard placard on it stating that the engine should be shut off due to fire hazard and to not use cell phones, etc with 50 feet of the pumps.

Some years back I go by a station one night with a pretty good blaze going. Several people were standing back while the fire department tried to save a car and several pumps.

The writeup in the paper the next day said that the lady driver apparently left the manual trans car in neutral while gassing up. The wind was gusting pretty hard and the car rolled. This in turn broke the nozzle out of the carā€™s filler neck and the spark when the nozzle hit the concrete set it off.
An alert attendant at the station managed to shut the pumps down but the fire still wiped out 2 pumps and that womanā€™s car.

At least in this case, and miraculously, no one was injured but this could have gone very badly.

@cilevans1989

Back in my dating days . . .

I always made sure my car was clean AND had a full tank of gas BEFORE going out on a date

Apparently that is NOT common sense

And I NEVER took a lady out for cheap eats

I have been known to take a lady to a dive bar . . . but ONLY if she requested that place by name

LOL

@cilevans1989 By the way, the illegal part would work if he actually cared about what he deems as silly laws. He has illegal tints and gets pulled over for speeding on a fairly regular basis.

Sounds like potential boyfriend 1, has his priorities wrong concerning his vehicle and 2, is a bit self absorbed with himself.

You will be #2 behind his Mazda, wanna get wrapped up in this?

While the guy does sound like someone you should steer clear of, when I worked at a gas station years ago, no one blinked an eye when they refueled with their cars running. It wasnā€™t legal, but if someone was in a hurry or if they said their car would have trouble restarting, theyā€™d leave it running.

Hey everyone,

Sorry I ditched out for a while.

Hereā€™s some answers to questions:

How old are you?: 23

How old is he?: 29

Why is he taking you out for fast food this early?: We didnā€™t go out for fast food this time. We were friends from before and hung out casually and I noted this practice.

Does he take other advice well?: For the most part, yes. But when it comes to his car, no way. When I questioned whether or not he should get the RX8 because of the ā€œunconventionalā€ rotary engine, he got offended because he assumed I didnā€™t think he did his homework.

But regardless of whether or not this is something would pursue, I still think this issue needs to be addressed for his safety and safety of his passengers.

The RX8 is an easily justified personal choice. The ā€˜filling while running/lots of tickets/super tint/laws are stupid donā€™t-shouldnā€™t apply to himā€™ are not, theyā€™re warning signs. To me, at least.

Amen to Texases post.

@texases I took a Defensive Driving Course some years back and one segment was entirely devoted to be aware of driver types like the boyfriend in question. It went through several examples; illegal parking, smoking in non-smoking areas, disregarding speed limits, etc.

The types fall into two categories; the first ā€œDonā€™t need no steenkin rulesā€, depicting ignorance and unwillingness to learn, and the second the type who have full knowledge of rules but regard themselves ABOVE the law. European aristocrats and entertainment celebrities often behave this way. Both types are deadly! The course even advised students to not even ride with this type.

It sounds like youā€™re too mature for himā€¦by at least 5-8 years.

OK, I donā€™t leave the car running and I understand its illegal and unsafe. However, since I was a kid I have been told how bad it is but I have yet to have a satisfactory answer on why exactly it is dangerous? Is it escaping fumes and potential sparks? Heat from the exhaust and the fumes that sink to the lower level or what?

Really I would be interested in the exact reason.

All the above. All electrical circuits are active, ignition, etc, and fumes are being released. A bad combination.

Iā€™ll admit that when the weather is very cold or extremely hot out, I often leave my cars running when I fill them up to keep the heat or A/C running. I have done this for probably 20 years, with no problems. Is it illegal? Probably. Is it safer to turn it off? The only real danger as I see it is an unattended vehicle being stolen, or rolling away if someone didnā€™t put it in park or use the parking brake. Or possibly with someone locking their keys in a running vehicle I suppose. Iā€™m always there with the vehicle, since I use my card to fill up, and if Iā€™m in a neighborhood where thereā€™s some worry about someone jumping in and stealing the car, I shut it off and take the keys. The other reason for shutting it off is to make the fueling process as idiot-proof as possible. If everyone left theirs running, Iā€™m sure there would be a lot of mishaps.

There is no more danger of gasoline vapors igniting with the vehicle off than onā€“what is there to ignite them anywhere near the point of fueling? Thereā€™s no open flame nearby, everything electrical is well away, and the exhaust system is nowhere near hot enough unless you crawled under the car and hosed down the catalytic converter (which is well away from the fuel tank) with gasoline. All parts of the car that are hot are unlikely to cool off enough to make the slightest difference in the 30 seconds or so between when you turn the car off and begin fueling.

With modern vehicles, some of them may be more sensitive than others to setting an EVAP related code and turning on the check engine light from doing this. I have never personally have it happen, and I doubt itā€™s a real issue unless you cram every cent you can of gas into the fuel tank, which would be problem whether the vehicle is running or not.

It does sound like he takes this to an extreme. If it makes you uncomfortable with him doing this, Iā€™d mention it. If he refuses to shut it off as a courtesy to you, then you have worse problems that need discussing.

Many years ago I lived across the street from a gas station. It have seen a lot more than one time when someone ended up with fire blazing from the pump. It is not uncommon.

Please read the rules and follow them.

@JosephEMeehan: I express skepticism that the mishaps you saw were due to people fueling with their cars running. One thing that scares the hell out of me though is seeing someone filling gas cans in a trailer or while holding them, especially in the winterā€¦

In my 4 years pumping gas, I was never worried about fill-ups when cars were running, but rather more worried about all those who filled their cars with a lit cigarette hanging out of their mouth, right next to the handle and/or filler neck.

As the above comments have read just donā€™t do it next time he does do it reach over and press the button to turn it off. If he needs real proof here it is

https://youtube.com/watch?v=C3h39q-7-IY

While Iā€™m not saying he should leave the car running, the Youtube video above does not mean the gas ignited because the car was running. It was very likely static electricity that ignited the vapors.