# Exiting your car **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448 "2022-11-23T19:25:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/61 "2022-11-26T14:30:36Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > I reset the trip odometer, and write down the relevant figures, while the gas is pumping. At least around here you will get yelled at by the attendants (either in person or via the intercom) if you walk away from the pump even for a couple of seconds. If you actually go sit in the car, they’ll cut off the pump. I also cannot enter the data in the log until the transaction completes and downloads into the app. This typically happens while I’m walking around the car to get back in. I don’t write down anything. I punch in five digits into my phone and then go. Some people here are sure that it takes more than a few seconds to do this. On what basis, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/62 "2022-11-26T14:37:11Z")
I do wonder, though, if there’s a disconnect in expectations between people who expect a line at the gas pump and those of us who almost never have another driver waiting for the pump we are using. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/63 "2022-11-26T14:40:11Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > At least around here you will get yelled at by the attendants (either in person or via the intercom) if you walk away from the pump even for a couple of seconds. If you actually go sit in the car, they’ll cut off the pump. Yeah, here in the US, it’s pretty typical to get in the car during the winter while the gas is pumping, and it’s also very common to see folks pump the gas and go inside the gas station to stock up on drinks, snacks, and use the facilities. It’s also pretty rare, in my area (Chicago), for there to be cars waiting to get a pump. I’ve seen it. but it’s pretty uncommon unless you’re at Costco or there’s some gas promotion going on (which in itself is pretty uncommon, but happens.) ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/64 "2022-11-26T14:44:30Z")
Well, I usually have a line at the grocery store checkout (and at CVS, Starbucks, etc) and I am not in the least bit bothered by people in front of me looking at their receipts, putting away their change or card, even counting their change, or otherwise not following the optimum order of operations that would minimize my waiting time. My wife on the hand, bless her [Industrial Engineer’s] heart… ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/65 "2022-11-26T14:49:06Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, here in the US, it’s pretty typical to get in the car during the winter while the gas is pumping, Maybe in your part of the US. I don’t think it’s allowed where i live. The pumps at self-serve stations have all been adjusted to stop if you let go of them, with stern notices that it’s against the law to jigger then to keep working without your hand. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/66 "2022-11-26T14:54:21Z")
Yeah, here in most localities they have they have the little auto-pump latch on the handles working. I know I’ve been maybe in certain suburbs that have them disabled, but it’s been a long while since I’ve come across that (and people will often jam a gas cap in them to get around it, anyway. But it’s been years since I’ve seen them. Maybe local laws have changed.) ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/67 "2022-11-26T15:00:04Z")
Here stations can have the latches IF they enforce the “no walking away” rule strictly. Otherwise they have to take them out again. Jamming the gas cap in there is illegal. I once had a friend who was at the next pump (right behind me) and I walked about ten feet to speak with her. The attendant immediately said over the intercom “Do not leave the pump unattended” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/68 "2022-11-26T15:12:09Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I do wonder, though, if there’s a disconnect in expectations between people who expect a line at the gas pump and those of us who almost never have another driver waiting for the pump we are using. This. The idea of waiting in any line anywhere is just weird. Being immediately behind somebody who’s checking out or whatever is common enough. But by and large I expect to arrive at [wherever] and be able to (almost) immediately do [whatever]. Now part of my largely line-free existence is that I’ll forego [whatever] if I see a line for getting it. e.g. in the morning many of my co-workers like to buy a Starbucks at the airport while walking to the departure gate. I’d enjoy one, but not at the expense of standing in an interminable 20-person deep line waiting for one. In some airports I know where there’s another branded coffee vendor with 1 person in line. I’ll get that one or do without. What I won’t do is join the long line at e.g. Starbucks. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/69 "2022-11-26T15:17:41Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Here stations can have the latches IF they enforce the “no walking away” rule strictly. Otherwise they have to take them out again. Yeah, if there is such a law here – and there may very well be – I’ve never seen it enforced. Come to think of it, there may be a sign that says “do not leave pumps unattended” somewhere, but it seems to be universally ignored, like those “do not use cellphone” signs that used to be (or maybe still are) posted. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/70 "2022-11-26T15:19:16Z")
If I’m on the ball in the morning I use my remote start app and my audiobook is teed up to pick up where I left off. I carry a tote with purse, snack and yeti. I just get in the car, it’s warming or cooling and the reader is reading. I put on my specs, dig out my morning drive snack, apple or tangerine and a cheese stick, buckle up and go. At home I may sit in the drive listening to the radio for a bit but usually I gotta go! I put my specs back in their case drop it in my tote and exit. Traveling and stopping at rest areas it takes more time when I’m passenger. I have to wake up, lol, put my shoes back on, and grab a coat from the back seat. He’s usually waiting for me to return and this time he’s in the passenger seat. Seat adjustments are remembered, Hello Driver C 🏁 specs on and we’re off. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/71 "2022-11-26T15:53:59Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It makes me feel like I’m an employee or something I believe you’d be in the “or something” category. For me it varies. Leaving home I try to get everything set before heading out (check traffic app, connect power plugs, make sure the toll box is stuck where it should be, etc.) so that then I don’t have to along the way. Otherwise I try to move quickly and not obstruct flow. (Though I am of the inclination that if there is an open spot 30 meters ahead, I’m not stopping here to wait for you to get out so you need not just stand waiting for me. ) OTOH one thing that just gets me is when I’m a passenger with a driver that promptly gets in motion …and **then** begins buckling up, plugging in/pairing a phone, entering destination on the Nav, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/72 "2022-11-26T16:49:47Z")
Since I have no life, when I got back in the car after this morning’s jam, I started counting when I closed the door. The one thing I did was change my gasses fro sunglasses. I was surprised that just doing that and fastening my seatbelt, it was nearly 15 seconds before I was in gear and ready to go. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/73 "2022-11-26T17:21:44Z")
These days it is pretty uncommon for me to get tied up at the gas station. I go to Costco once a week, on a week day, when they open at 6 am, so I rarely have to wait. I do take a while in my garage in the morning, though, preparing to depart. This is primarily to hook up Apple CarPlay and deciding what I want to listen to during that day’s commute. mmm ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/74 "2022-11-26T17:42:47Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > OTOH one thing that just gets me is when I’m a passenger with a driver that promptly gets in motion …and **then** begins buckling up, plugging in/pairing a phone, entering destination on the Nav, etc. There’s another way to do that? Who knew? 😉 I almost always back out of a space then buckle up; easier to twist around that way. if I can pull straight out buckling usually happens before I’m moving but if not it’s in the first few seconds of motion. The phone went in its holster as I was sitting down. But plugging it in happens after the car’s in motion; why waste time? I mostly use the car’s nav app to see by how much I can beat its initial no-traffic estimate going to/from work. That takes a few very familiar clicks of the “mouse” and happens as I’m rolling through the parking garage towards the exit. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/75 "2022-11-26T18:03:12Z")
_You_ get a pass to compensate how in your other conveyance you have to sit there for 20 minutes punching in where you are, where you’re going, and how you intend to get there _and_ get pushed out of the parking spot before even cranking the starter; and at the end of the trip have to wait for someone to show up with stairs. 🤪 ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/76 "2022-11-26T18:16:20Z")
When I pull up to work in the morning, it’s in a dark, heavily treed lot. I park, gather my bag, lunch, anything else, together in one hand. Survey my surroundings, turn off the car, get out and start walking towards the building in one motion while simultaneously remotely locking the car as I walk. When I leave from work it can also be dark. I have all my shit with me in one hand and walk towards the car, starting and unlocking it remotely. Walk towards the car while surveying my surroundings. Get in, lock car, chuck shit on passenger seat. Now that I am safely in the locked, running car, I can better organize all the stuff that I threw onto the seat. Surveying my surroundings means watching not only for people but also bears and cougars. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2022, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/77 "2022-11-26T19:03:48Z")
My car doesn’t start until all the people are buckled up. Well, unless a back seat passenger lies to me, i guess. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2022, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/78 "2022-11-27T16:55:29Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > I once had a friend who was at the next pump (right behind me) and I walked about ten feet to speak with her. The attendant immediately said over the intercom “Do not leave the pump unattended” If we have those laws here, it’s news to me. What’s the big deal though, aren’t pumps equipped with auto/shut offs when full? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2022, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/79 "2022-11-27T16:58:56Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > If we have those laws here, it’s news to me. What’s the big deal though, aren’t pumps equipped with auto/shut offs when full? They are not 100% reliable ESPECIALLY if they’ve been jammed with something rather than using the built in lever. Usually the laws and regulations regarding gas stations are know to gas station operators, not so much to the customers. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2022, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448/80 "2022-11-28T11:35:21Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > At least around here you will get yelled at by the attendants (either in person or via the intercom) if you walk away from the pump even for a couple of seconds. If you actually go sit in the car, they’ll cut off the pump. For og’s sake, why? And where on this planet do you find gas station attendants who are even paying attention? Wednesday I needed to refuel before our trip. As it would take 40-50 gallons, I left the pump running and headed around back to open the tailgate, then into the store for a multi-trip transfer of beer, wine, and ice to the big cooler in back. After the pump clicked off, I started the truck (A/C) and began a lengthy process involving the bed-cover/gloves/receipt/odometers/phone, etc. I was probably at the pump for 20 minutes and no one was waiting, no one cared. Just like always. The only time I’ve been scolded at a gas pump was a policeman who bitched about filling gas tanks in the truck bed, believing they needed to be on the ground and demanding I do so. I had grounded before filling, and tried to explain the hinged metal object in the rear folded down to the ground _for that very purpose_, but he wasn’t interested. I wisely decided that wasn’t the time for a science lesson. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > The idea of waiting in any line anywhere is just weird. Being immediately behind somebody who’s checking out or whatever is common enough. But by and large I expect to arrive at [wherever] and be able to (almost) immediately do [whatever]. Ditto. Waiting in line for a service is pretty rare around here. There’s never much of a line at Walmart. I’m rarely behind even one person at the pharmacy, and their drive-through always has an empty lane. Hell, I went to the emergency room in Jan, 2021 (height of the pandemic) and there was only one person ahead of me. I was seen and moved to a private room within 10 minutes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exiting-your-car/975448.md?page=5)