Almost did it once myself. You? Oh, and here’s a very unlikely candidate for this; or maybe not:
I suppose if you get gas less often, you’re more likely to forget the routine.
Why’s Everyone Looking At Me?
– Posted on September 7, 2011
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Curbside Classics Archives
LOL
Do the stations give you a discount if you bring your own hose?
I’m surprised that the hoses seem to break-away so easily that the offenders don’t even realize that they’ve torn them from the pump as they drive off.
The bottom one looks as if it unplugged I guess making them stronger woul pull the pump off its mount which could get messy
All of the hoses on modern pumps have a breakaway fitting on them, take a look the next time you fill up and you will see it (often it’s right at the top where the hose meets the pump).
I filled up my car about a month ago and then starting hearing this clunking sound from the back and couldn’t figure it out. When I arrived at my destination, I discovered that I had been one of those idiots driving around with my gas filler door open and the cap hanging by its tether, which had been banging against the side of the car. The automotive equivalent of walking around with one’s fly unzipped! So maybe in another 10 years I’ll forget to remove the nozzle too . . .
Several years ago, I had an 84 Olds Ninety Eight with the filler pipe behind the license plate. I removed the cap and set it on the rubber piece between the trunk lid and the big bumper. 100 miles later, I got out and saw my gas cap sitting right where I had left it. Luckiest day of my life.
I screwed up much worse than that. Ever since I accidentally hit the skinny instead of the brakes (yes, I was one of those people, luckily all I hit was a wall) I was so bothered by the possibility of a repeat screw-up that I worked on developing the practice of “mental notes.” Always pause and take a look at the gas cap closed after you’re done at the pump, always pull on the door handle one time when leaving the car in a public spot (if no alarm), look at the button on the alarm module when pressing it, etc. I know, I’m retarded. But I don’t feel so bad every time I see somebody drive by in traffic with their blinker consistently running, gas cap wide open, etc. 😀
I was on a service project/road trip in college, driving my professor’s ’69 Nova (which is a story in itself, given that this was 1989, not 1970 or so), and noticed that fuel was apparently being consumed at an alarming rate…as it turned out, the gas cap had been left off at the previous fuel stop and gas was sloshing out of the filler behind the license plate. Thank goodness for truck stops and universal gas caps–it’s a wonder we didn’t blow up the car along the way.
Same exact thing happened to me. Living in NJ, which is one of two states that don’t allow self-service gas stations, I guess I have an excuse since I’m not used to pumping it myself. I drove home almost 100 miles from Delaware with the gas cap sitting on the bumper filler of my ’75 Buick Century.
The Safeway gas stations around here have a sticker on the pump stating that you will be held liable for the damages should you drive off with the nozzle still in your car. Which is kind of silly since the modern hoses have the break away feature that means that the only damage is to a shear pin most of the time. Back in the day I could understand it because it would damage the pump and resulting fuel spill could cause problems including the dreaded “fiery death”. Maybe there is a good reason that the states of Pennsylvania and Oregon consider the average public too ignorant to pump their own gas. (Correction New Jersey not Penn)
New Jersey, too! It’s always so unusual when i go East. Love it.
Phoenix, I stand corrected, it is NJ not Penn that is the other state that doesn’t allow self serve.
MikePDX, I hate it when I travel to/through OR because I never get a full tank. So despite the fact that I live in your wet neighbor to the north I prefer self serve by far.
We Oregonians prefer to stay out of the rain and fumes, thank you very much. A ballot measure for self-serve gas failed.
Speak for yourself, nanny stater! I HATE waiting and waiting and waiting on the lone gas-fume drunk attendant to spill gas on my car and not fill it all the way. I can do both myself just fine, thanks!
Right. Penn has beer distributors though, that’s the unusual thing about them! The good thing I suppose is that you always are forced to select from a better variety than a local grocery chain store can provide.
But the problem is that if you want to try something new you have to either buy a case of it at the beer distributor or go to a bar or six pack store to pay an extortionate unit price.
Given the fact the average moron can barely drive, I have to wonder why most states allow these people handle gallons of a very dangerous liquid by themselves. That said, the average pump jockey here in Oregon (probably on work release) who couldn’t pour beer out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel, is no better and maybe worse…just love spending 8 minuets waiting for him/her to finish texting his/her other half (or parole officer) before I get to see their missing teeth…I’ll pump my own, thank you!
I have my own amusing experience with Oregon.
As I’m getting ready to grab the nozzle:
Pump jockey: Sir no! You can’t do that!
Me: What? Why not?
Pump jokey: Stat law, you can’t pump your own gas.
Me: Really? Well ok then, have at it.
Me: Babe, did you know about that law?
Wife: Ya, but I forgot to mention it.
I never did that. But a co-worker of mine did – with company equipment.
The trouble is…she was a locomotive engineer, like myself…that’s right. She pulled off the mainline fueling pad with the hose still attached…about a thousand-gallon diesel-fuel spill. And also, an overhaul of fueling procedures…which made the informal and occasionally slipshod, into arduous and bureaucratic.
The story didn’t have a happy ending, for what it’s worth. She was a ditz…intelligent but spacey. Which a year later got her killed…getting on equipment wearing a backpack, on a mainline track, as a train went by on an adjacent track. Snagged her backpack.
Which raises the question: when someone goofs big, like that, what are they telling you about themselves? That maybe they’re just not the sort of person who ought to be driving?