We have one of those at our local Waitrose supermarket. It’s completely automatic and is unmanned at all times.
I’ve gotten gas all over New England and have yet to encounter anything like that. If there’s no notch in the handle, and there usually isn’t, you’re stuck holding it to keep the gas flowing.
Automatic nozzles are used on petrol stations. In the UK, France and some other countries the lever latch for so called hands free operation is not allowed. For safety reasons the motorist must observe and be responsible for the safe dispensing of fuel… Therefore the latch pin is removed before the nozzles are fitted on the pumps. For health reasons operator attendance no longer exists in Europe to any large extent combined with the high labor costs. Vapour recovery systems are now mandated on petrol stations. In Germany and other countries latches are allowed. Filling stations in the UK are “licensed” by local authorities and the operation of these is governed by laws and regulations. An automatic nozzle requires pump pressure to work. When fuel level in the car tank reaches the sensing port at the tip of the nozzle spout fuel is sucked up the sensing tube but not as easily as the air. When liquid flows through the venturi a suction effect is created. This creates a pressure reduction above the flexible diaphragm which lifts up two rollers from the pullrod and the fuel flow stops. The time taken between the fuel reaching the sensing port and the nozzle cutting off is a fraction of a second. You can release the trigger and probably trip it off one or two more times. Vapour recovery nozzles work exactly the same except that they have a metal shroud on the nozzle spout where the vapours are sucked back through the nozzle via coaxial fuel hose by a vacuum pump inside the petrol pump and returned to the storage tank. You should always treat fuel with care and respect and read the instructions for safe refuelling. Don’t play with fuel it could cost you your life or that of others. Re static fires there might be other contributing factors including poor surfaces, low coast tires, old or non conductive hoses as well as synthetic clothing etc
In NY, you’ll find the “stay-on” pumps only at “full service” pumps, that is, ones used by the station attendant and at which you’ll generally pay a higher price. If you use the “self service” pumps, they all have the little catches removed.
In some/most stations that have both full and self service pump, the full service ones will usually be blocked off and unusable after a certain time, when the station goes to “self-service only” and the attendants don’t venture out of their locked office and you must pay via plastic at the pump or cash through a sliding drawer.
In NJ, there are no self service pumps at all, and all gas must be pumped by the station attendant. All the pumps I’ve seen there have the “lock on” features.
This goes back to my theory/point of “If it works in so many other places, of what are so frightened?”
I gather that left-hand turns (think right-hand turns, Americans) in Britain on a red light aren’t legal. What are they preventing? I’ve personally not heard of one accident because of turning right here on a red light.
They are legal in some locations, and are indicated by a green arrow signal. I suspect that the reason they aren’t allowed as a matter of course is that, since our towns and cities aren’t laid out according to a neat grid system, the straightforward four-way crossing is much less common than in the US. Junctions controlled by lights tend to be complicated by roads joining at odd angles, with poor visibility, and simpler ones are more often controlled by roundabouts.
“Left on red” is one of the proposed Tory policies with which I agree. That said, we have the pedestrian aspect to consider too - way more pedestrians here than in most US locations - so I suspect if it came into force, it would be extremely limited in scope.
I think it would too. As I say, we already have a well-established system in place with directional lights that allows for “left on red”, or indeed “right on red” or “straight ahead on red” as it may be appropriate for the layout of any particular road junction. I’d certainly agree with a government policy of encouraging their increased use where they’d help traffic flow.
Given the number of odd-shaped junctions about, I suspect that making “left of red” the default would only result in a large number of lights having to be supplemented with an additional “no left of red” sign – just more visual clutter, when many people are campaigning for less confusing signage.