While I always look for simple explanations of seemingly inexplicable problems, in the case of a recurrent problem I did just that, and it is beginning to appear that I was wrong.
When I fill my gas tank, I have noticed that the little notches in the fuel pump handle that hold the lever in place to auto-fill the tank seem to have increasingly vanished. I assumed that they had broken or fallen off from wear and tear, and the station owners were too lazy or cheap to replace them.
NOT SO.
What I thought was human laziness or stupidity appears in this case to be deliberate. I share this man’s outrage:
I have no idea when someone somewhere decided that there was some kind of safety problem with gas pumps offering a locking clip at the end of the nozzle. You know, the little metal doo-hickey that lets you take your hand off the pump while the car fills with gas, then kicks back to let you know it’s done. I suppose someone somewhere experienced a clip failure. I imagine gas poured onto the ground. I have a hard time believing that the result was a lethal conflagration, but a million monkeys and all that. Perhaps it was the idea of an inferno that led to their ban; the relevant bureaucrat having seen Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds” as a kid. Meanwhile, here in the Ocean State, we have to physically squeeze the trigger on the nozzle until the tank’s full. As fellow SUV owners will attest, that can be a long time. Anyone who doesn’t live in the desert or the Deep South will also tell you that pumping gas in sub-zero weather is painful enough to make an Antarctic explorer nostalgic. Tall people have to stoop. Weak people have to strain. Nervous people have to stand still. All for the lack of a single piece of metal. If we can put a man on the moon (and I know you and I were deeply involved in that venture), why can’t we (and now I’m talking about you rather than me) design a gas pump that doesn’t require so much human effort?
This slightly altered illustration shows the little metal notch plate which has been removed:
A comment pretty much spells out the reasoning involved, which comes down to simple fear of lawsuits.
…if drivers are blaming manufacturers about something as dirt simple as an accelerator pedal, then why don’t you think they’ll trust you with an automatic shutoff dispensing an explosive fluid? There’s no upside in it for the manufacturers or the oil companies – they’ll just get blamed anyway when something goes wrong.
Of course they will.
Intrigued and disgusted, I continued to look.
In California and a number of states, the automatic holding devices have been banned. It is hurting gas stations:
This latest regulation, to replace locking nozzles with non-locking nozzles, has impacted more than a consumer’s ability to get back in their car to get out from the cold and rain when pumping gas. Now consumers are less inclined to go into the convenience gas station store while gas is being pumped to purchase drinks, snacks or (gasp) cigarettes. Our local gas station friend told us he has seen a dramatic decrease in sales with his newly upgraded convenience store since this new non-locking nozzle regulation went into effect.
The federal government seems to be waaay behind the times, as this EPA website illustrates:
HELP PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT!
SAVE MONEY!
- Do you top off your gas tank and overfill it?
- When the gas pump nozzle clicks off automatically, do you add a little more gas to round off your dollar sale?
- Topping off your gas tank is bad for the environment and your wallet.
So… What’s to stop them from “topping off” now?
I wonder which method promotes less topping off and is therefore better for “the environment.” (The latter means all land and life on earth other than humans, who by definition are not a part of it, but are the enemy of it).
Bastards.
Comments
11 responses to “Thank you, U.S. legal “system”!”
I am old enough to recall when these things weren’t universal, and you would wedge your gas cap under the trigger so you wouldn’t have to hold it. A while back I tried that, and a voice came over the speaker overhead telling me I couldn’t do it. I was so annoyed I left and got gas elsewhere.
I don’t blame you. They want to make you hold the damned thing in your hand the whole time, tell them to come out and hold it!
You’re probably right that it is pre-emptive hysteria. Another example of that hysteria is the ban on using a cell phone at the pump.
The Petroleum Equipment Institute that reviews the pumps and investigates safety issues says that there has never been a fire caused by cell phone. Plenty attributed to them by the media who neglect to followup (big surprise there!) on the cause of ignition.
In fact, mythbusters did an episode where they put a cell phone in a wire cage with optimal fuel air mixture for combustion. Nothing happened.
Another experiment detached the battery while in optimal FA mixture while the phone was transmitting at peak wattage. Nothing there either.
Before long, we’ll probably have to check our flatulence at the entry – you know, to avoid the natural gas explosion that is obviously imminent.
However, one thing that has been documented to cause fueling fires is a failure to ground yourself after getting out of the car. Apparently static discharge causes a fairly large number of fueling fires.
NY’s gas stations don’t have that device either.
At first, I thought I was just going to gas stations that had broken ones, but after years of finding nothing but ‘broken’ ones,
I assumed it was the nannarchy.
Just another petty annoyance courtesy of our fine, governmental betters, NYS is full of that crap.
It’s all some bureaucrat who had to prove his/her power by doing good and if it’s an annoyance for Teh Peepul? Well, bless their hearts, they’re just too dim to understand it’s better for us all.
AZ still has working ones and most of them in VA worked as well. There I gave them the benefit of the doubt that they were actually broken because most worked.
California banned the type of locking nozzle you have in the diagram, but allowed a redesigned type of lock which costs $350 per nozzle to replace. From the San Jose Mercury:
And here is why some gas nozzles are difficult to use. Three years ago the Office of the State Fire Marshal ordered locking latches on gas nozzles [removed] from vapor system technologies because of splashing when filling up, said Tim Low of San Francisco, who cited a 2010 report on the issue: “Many operators apparently chose to just remove the locking latches instead of purchasing new nozzles at a cost of about $350 per nozzle,” he said. “About one-third (3,000 statewide) don’t have the latches now, according to the California Service Station and Automotive Repair
http://www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow/ci_24107600/roadshow-gas-nozzles-dont-always-shut-off-automatically
Most stations in my area of Northern California have replaced the nozzles. The new ones lock with a lever attached to the frame which can be popped up rather than dropped down. It is a little more difficult to use but seems to work about the same as the one you have pictured. And it is not easily seen so many people still hold the lever thinking there’s no lock.
We still live on the edge down here in LA. I can pump my gas without holding the nozzle. Also, Open Carry is legal.
We must be stupid.
And God forbid you should buy a 5 gallon gas “can” and expect to be able to pour anything out of it. The plastic nozzle has a built in valve which fails shut after 3 or 4 months, and even while working pours incredibly slowly.
5 gallons weighs about 35 pounds or a little more. Holding it up and away from the body during the interminable pour is physically difficult even for those in good shape.
But our betters in one or more of the DC alphabet know more than the people who actually use these things. Probably not lawsuit initiated, just the heavy hand of otherwise idle federal workers.
Give ’em all something real to do, like find a job.
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Here in the IE we still have the locking handles, I thought it was weird, but my Work Van likes it, and @charlieL, you know, if you used the sucky gas can per instructions, you would find they actually do work quite well,
Bob
I’ve been thinking about modding my gas cans with something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Valve-Barb-FNPT-PVC/dp/B0078S95MQ/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1382459140&sr=8-16&keywords=1%2F4%22+PVC+barb+valve
If the nannies at the consumer product safety commission (or whatever board wrecked our gas cans) don’t want us sold gas cans with proper vents, I’ll just add my own.
You could probably disable the auto close spring, too.
I see some one has already covered gas cans. I’ll give the reason:
Some people poured gasoline on a fire and got injured.
Let me add that the nozzles are short so you can’t get all the gas out of the can.
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Yes. You can remove the auto close spring. Some duct taping will be required.
And then there is Oregon where pumping your own gas is illegal. On a recent visit there, I encountered an attendant who was training a new employee on how to run a gas pump. I thought wtf, everyone knows how to run a gas pump. But in Oregon, they wouldn’t. What do Oregon people do when they travel?