this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2024
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I sit in my car.
You aren’t supposed to do that, assuming you’re the one pumping gas. Gas stations are a bad place to generate static electricity, lol.
I forgot about the epidemic of gas station explosions due to people sitting in their cars.
I mean, it does happen.
If it is of concern for you, you're going to lose your shit when you find out the risks involved when you actually drive your car.
I mitigate risks when it’s reasonable. Not getting in my car while pumping gas is an easy step to take in order to mitigate a risk. Like buckling my seatbelt.
Can you perhaps share some statistics of explosions caused by getting in a car? No? How about an article of someone blown to smithereens by getting in there car? Not that either?
What you're feeling better about is the theater of inferred safe practices. The fact that in spite of driving being the top cause of accidental death, you're ok with but although there is no factual info backing up your fear of getting into your car should give you pause.
Wait do you deny these even happen? Are you serious right now? There’s multiple videos and articles. Like this one:
https://youtu.be/T6VKxmUPb3g?si=R0-ovPwC4TRlXgBh
Not that it didn't happen, just that they are so rare, you had to find a 4 pixel video of one and are completely unable to provide any statistics due to it's rarity.
I was going to link a vehicle accident to back up my claim but, well, I had problems picking one from the 6 million that occur annually.
But you go ahead and worry about the static electricity while fueling so you can hop in your car and hurtle down the road around the oncoming rockets that are infinitely more likely to end your life but you are, for some strange reason, more OK with.
"Something else is more dangerous therefore the less dangerous thing doesn't exist." - You
"Stickers tell me when to worry." - You
"I ignore clear warnings because I haven't personally experienced the issue so it must not exist." - You
The dude is literally the reason we have to have those sticker warnings on everything. I’m gonna say he’s not intelligent enough to even bother arguing with.
"Fear everything except for the most likely cause of death." - You
Alright, have fun being an angry little whatever you are. I have better things to do than warn you about your car burning up, enjoy the rest of your day, keep full coverage on your cars or something. Have a nice one.
They put stickers on every pump everywhere warning about static electricity causing fires. Do you think they just put those on there for fun? I bet you're not vaccinated either, idiot.
Luckily there's no sticker on our car about the risks of driving, so we know it's safe.
You seem angry. Maybe 4 1/2 hours of vehicle crashes will soothe you. Dont worry, they are high-resolution.
How do you feel about vaccinations? Is that something you do?
Here's another hour of vehicle accidents for you to calm you down.
Yeah I have youtube too I can watch car crashes, not sure what point you think you're making there. Do you wear a seat belt? Do you drink and drive?
Since you're struggling to keep throwing other elements into this discussion in hopes of legitimizing you calling me an idiot over an anonymous comment section that has angered you:
I'm fully vaccinated because the risk of death without has been proven to be significant. I wear a seat belt because the risk of death without has been proven to be significant. I don't drink and drive because the risk of death when doing so has proven to be significant. I get in my car when fueling because the risk of doing so is so minuscule that there are literally no published statistics regarding the practice.
You seem to be doubling down on the "I'm having a problem winning this with logic so let's find something else to get this guy on" and super light on any stats, so I'm going to concede you are the winner of this online comment battle(Congrats!). Also, I did find a video showing some static electricity fires so I thought I'd give you that as well. It seems you were right all along.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
I did find a video showing some static electricity fire
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Brother I won the argument when you started typing, I really don't care to engage on this topic anymore, have a nice day.
You keep saying you're done but yet here you are, still engaging.
I win because I've commented last. Yay, me.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Here's another hour of vehicle accidents for you
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
4 1/2 hours of vehicle crashes
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
There was a whole Mythbusters episode where they tried TONS of stuff to get a gas station to go up in flames (they couldn't, not even smoking a cigarette -- under near ideal conditions for an ignition of nearby vapors -- per my recollection).
So yeah, I'm sitting in my car (especially if it's cold outside).
"Static electricity" isn't somehow more of a concern sitting in your car than standing outside one in a fuzzy jacket.
What about gasoline fights? Did they account for those?
Cool, here's a video of a known static electricity ignition.
https://youtu.be/T6VKxmUPb3g?si=qmnptZLv2S1RgJvf
Hey look... a fuzzy sweater.
I'm still getting in and out of my car. I get in, shut the door, get back out, and close the door. Plenty of metal touched. Sometimes gloves.
Here's another one https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JMfxPooeybg
Probably 1 in 10 million (and 2/2 videos where they didn't shut the car door)... I'll take that chance.
Edit: also think about it, if this was a real problem with a high enough frequency they'd engineer the fuel handles to prevent it. Heck, maybe they already did (accidentally or intentionally) plenty of them increasingly have a ton of plastic.
Dude your name is literally Dark_Arc. Just accept that your destiny is dying in a static electricity fire
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://m.piped.video/watch?v=JMfxPooeybg
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
They do engineer the pumps to ground the static charge. That's what can cause the arc.
You discharge yourself the first time you touch the pump before you fill up.
Getting back into the car defeats the purpose by then grounding you in the presence of fuel vapors, rather than before.
What you're saying doesn't make any sense. If you're engineering something to prevent a spark from a static charge, you engineer it to prevent a spark from a static charge. You don't engineer it to "ground you at first and then fail" if you pick up a static charge for some reason.
EDIT: And there are a lot more ways to become statically charged than getting in and out of a car (which in a lot of cases isn't going to give you a static charge anyways -- e.g. leather seats on cotton clothes is extremely unlikely to generate a static charge).
Yes, which is why the recommendation is to keep your hand on the handle while pumping or touch a metal part of your car prior to returning to the pump, and don't get back into a car.
I have a real life degree in automotive technology and engineering, and you saw a Mythbusters episode.
We can keep doing this forever if you like, but you're still very poorly informed on how safety is engineered into your vehicle fuel system and the mechanisms that support it.
Here is some reading to help you, API recommended fuel procedures (if you're not familiar with the API just read any gas pump or bottle of oil until you are): https://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas/consumer-information/consumer-resources/staying-safe-pump
I have a degree in computer science, I've worked on electrical engineering projects, my father is an electrician, I have a close friend and mentor that's a forensic electrical engineer, etc.
If y'all in the automotive space think this is a real problem, fix it. It is trivial to shield something from static electricity; TRIVIAL. Frankly it's unacceptable it hasn't been fixed if you're so adamant there's a serious risk to the public.
This reads to me as an "ass covering" article for a very very very rare event. At 1/10,000,000 estimated probability I'd have to live thousands of lives at the rate I fill up my car to ever see this.
I'm not going to worry about this more than I'm going to worry about winning the lottery or spontaneous combustion frankly; the probabilities do not warrant concern. Which I'm sure is the real reason nothing has been done here.
Citing your dad's job is a wild way to claim expertise.
I question your ability as an engineer if you can't understand how to shield something from static electricity. Hint: use non-conducive material to create an isolated ground that never makes contact with the gasoline, they've been doing it for all kinds of sensitive electronics for decades. This technique is also used to prevent your metal kitchen mixer from killing you if there's a short.
Am I "the expert" in this domain? No. Do I have plenty of exposure to it and other engineering disciplines to make a judgement call on the facts; absolutely.
Watch out entire industry that's been operating for more than a century, Dark Arc's dad is an engineer and he has correctly interpreted the facts you can't even seem to grasp.
Quick, now do perpetual motion! Those simpletons have barely even tried.
Not that this will mean anything to you, but this feels a lot like when someone says "why don't we just run lean so we save fuel?".
🙄
Thank you for your concern for my safety. I'm not interested.
My advice to you is, if you're worried about this, never get in a car again.
They need some signs, ‘No pumping gas in fuzzy jackets’
The concern (especially when it's cold since that usually implies dry air) is that a buildup of static energy occurs when your body rubs up against your cars interior.
This concern is usually a bit bigger for younger folks because they tend to not touch any metal parts of their car when getting up, which would discharge the energy while still a decent distance from the nozzle that's leaking gas vapors.
I used to do that until the pump failed to realize the tank was full and just kept going.
That's also why there are signs telling you specifically not to do that.
We should make a law that any process which requires continuous attention for safety reasons cannot be a venue for advertisement.
I just watch the filler from the side mirror. When I feel the click of the disengagement, I hop out, give a ground pat to the pump and replace the nozzle.
That's my point. When it fails, there's no click. It just keeps going. Then you're scrambling to stop the pump as it's jizzing fuel all over your car's paint job, the floor, you...