This is something I had only seen pictures of in emails, and I always wondered if they were simply photo-shopped…until yesterday.
A friend and I were going back to her house after a movie; she was driving. Suddenly we noticed that a car not too far ahead of us had a gasoline nozzle and hose sticking out of the tank. Clearly, the driver had zipped away from the pump without thinking about it; possibly, she thought she’d already finished the job, or was distracted, exhausted, etc.
We caught up with her near an intersection, on her left side, and I rolled down the window and pounded on the side of our car while my friend leaned on the horn. I was so flustered that at first, all I could yell was “Gas pump! Gas pump!” A few seconds later, I managed to say, “The gas hose is sticking out of your car’s tank!” The woman had rolled down her window with a horrifed expression, mouth wide open. Then some other people on her right started honking when they got a look at the problem.
So now I know that this happens IRL. Have you ever seen such a thing?
I saw a white BMW being driven by a blonde with the nozzle and hose hanging out of her gas filler. Other drivers were letting her know about it but she acted like she was ignoring them. At a red light, she jumped out, pulled out the nozzle and tossed it on the side of the road, jumped back in her car and when the light turned green, drove off.
I saw a woman start to drive away with the nozzle in her tank. I tried to holler at her to stop, but just then, the nozzle flew out of her tank and then flew over the pump and hit another woman in the head!!
I went in and told the clerk and then cleared out expecting I’d get trapped in by an ambulance or something pretty soon.
I used to work in a gas station and I can tell you this happens at least once a month or so. The owners were too cheap to get the neat breakaway hoses which minimize damage so every time some moron took off with the nozzle it meant a pump down for at least a day waiting for a new hose and nozzle and sometimes the pump itself would get damaged if they took off fast enough.
Baby pigeons, my ass! This is the real thing… :smack:
I’ve seen it many times. I used to work at the vehicle fleet at my school, and one of my co-workers did this regularly. That’s why they make them with quick-disconnects.
I almost left with the nozzle and hose a few weeks ago.
I went to the gas station at around 2am. It’s in NJ so full service. The attentant came out of his booth, put the nozzle in my tank and gave me the $10.00 I asked for and then he went back to his booth after I paid him. I started the car, and looked in my mirror before puttung it in drive. Thats when I saw the nozzle still in my car.
I honked my horn to get his attention. He came back with a What-Now type of attitude and I told him he had me hooked to his pump still. He apoligized and took the nozzle out,
When I worked at a gas station, it’d happen a few times a year–usually during morning or evening rush hours. There are often special linkages in the hoses that will nearly-instantly stop the flow of fuel if the hose is pulled apart. Sometimes the link physically breaks and a new one has to be put on, while others just “pop apart” and can be popped back together and still keep working without leaking.
I don’t know if they’re required but they should be: on rare occasions when we had hoses get ripped off that didn’t have one, the pump would run a gallon of fuel onto the ground probably every 3 or 4 seconds.
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Shoot, I wish I’d had my camera with me at the time. At any rate, I appreciate the replies. I knew my friend and I were not, in fact, collectively insane.
When I worked at a full-service station, the pump nozzles and hose units got changed out. They were very old. I grabbed one out of the trash and put in in my own car. Drove around just to see what would happen.
Truely amazing the observational powers of the general public. Horns were honked, lights flashed. Everybody and his brother pointed out what a dumb thing I had done. That was over Twenty years ago and now and then someone will bring it up.
