I have never turned my vehicle off while pumping gas in my life and have yet to have an issue. Especially coming from a Northern state where it gets pretty cold you see a lot of people doing the same thing. What is the potential risk or is it all just a myth?
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From another perspective – say I get gas on average every 250 miles. After 200,000 miles that is 800 gas stops – 800 starts if I turn it off. It is said that the most wear and tear is during starting. (Obviously getting gas is not a “cold”start.) Or, let it run for say 6 minutes or so, which would be 80 hours of idle time over the same 800 gas stops.
Which is more wear and tear? And if it is actually starting, is leaving it run “enough” better to take the fire risk, even if the risk is vanishingly small? I’d say probably not.
The hose could also rupture spilling gas everywhere. You not only putting yourself at risk but also all around you. Just shut off the car. Oh think about the additional green house gases your emitting you climate destroyer.
Dangerous is relative. There is probably a 0.000001% chance that something bad would happen but it’s not 0%.
In older times, the gas tank was located next to, and above, the engine. So spilled gas on a hot running engine could cause a fire. To a lesser extent, most people probably leave their car running so they can go back into the warm car while the gas pumps, which results in a un-attended gas pump which can overflow or spill gas.
You will continue to not have an issue until the day when you have a rather dramatic issue.
Do you get into the car too!?!? The static will start a fire sooner or later, maybe not for you but someone like you so don’t be a statistic.
There are a bunch of risks, many of which others have already mentioned. The most relavent risk you OP is that if a fire breaks out and your car was running at the time, then *you* are now liable for any damage, injuries, or deaths which occur because of your negligence.
Why would leaving your car running while you fuel it be considered negligent? Because (in most jurisdictions) it is illegal. By definition, ignoring the law is negligent behaviour.
There are a lot of static electricity comments here. I recall a Mythbusters episode where they filled a tank with varying levels of gasoline vapors while generating constant static electricity and never could reach combustion. I realize that is a TV show, but curious what folks here think about that test in the context of this conversation.
I don’t believe understand the risks and tradeoffs of a safety rule is an ELI5 level thing. I would advise you don’t understand the risks and consequences of doing something that is considered by experts or regulations to be unsafe, the wise choice is to follow the safety rule or regulations. This is for two primary reasons. It takes far more experience and knowledge to understand the ways an action can lead to injury than to just do that action. I addition, doing something for years without injury is not the same as operating safely. Most unsafe things we can do many times before our luck is likely to run out. We only die once so, until we do, the outcome of all of our unsafe choices has been some amount of lucky. In short, while you’re figuring this out, please turn off your vehicle while fueling it. You can always go back to the old way once you’ve learned more.
Your cars fuel pump is made to be used submerged in gas. Surprisingly enough its a simple motor that produces sparks while running. (its not brushless) those tiny sparks are harmless while submerged in gas, but they can surely ignite gas vapors which you get while pumping.
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