A family friend just brought up a point:
Electric stoves have the control knobs at the back…up against the wall/countertop…away from the reach of small children. This is apparently a safety regulation mandated by law.
Yet gas ranges have their control knobs up in the front, within easy reach of a small child’s fingers.
One can arguably say that gas is more dangerous than electric elements…so why the discrepancy in applying the safety regulation?
WAG: If you turn on a gas burner, it doesn’t always catch fire right away - then when it does, the flame shoots up for a moment before dying down. You don’t want your arm directly above that.
WAG: On electric stoves, the control knob is just a switch that can be placed almost anywhere. With a gas stove (mine at least) the control knob is mechanically linked to the burner, which limits the places you can put it.
I think Ferret Herder is right - reaching directly over the burners to turn on a gas stove is dangerous.
Your family friend is full of feces. Electric ranges have their knobs just about any damn place, and so do gas ranges. My gas range has its knobs on the top, over to the right of the burners. This GE electric range has knobs on the front.