I’ve had a latch thing fail once, it pumped 15 gal into my 12gal tank, when the nossel was removed about 3.5 gal came back out (it was the type with the rubber sleeve).
as for the cell phone, yes no one in his right mind would ever beleive it is more then a therotical possibility after a monkey rights Hamlet, but it happened recently in Albany NY area, even the FD said they couldn’t beleive it.
It is when it’s freezing cold outside! I can’t stand it when gas stations don’t let me use my own judgment - I consider the risk of exploding myself to be so incredibly small that I’ll get back in my car, thankyouverymuch. Plus, when you’re at a gas station by yourself at an odd hour of the night, sometimes you like to have the option to stay mostly in your car.
UK cars are, on average, smaller and more economical that American ones (and so (I think) they have smaller fuel tanks; 50 litres is large - this takes two minutes to fill.
Safety is probably another reason; I’ve heard of a number of cases (in the USA) of people leaving the latch on and totally forgetting to replace the hose before driving off, wrenching it off the pump - this simply doesn’t happen here because you attend the entire refuelling process.
There’s probably an element of convenience too; UK culture doesn’t (as far as I can tell) demand convenient gadgets for every concievable purpose (which is probably why we have threads about bathroom mixer taps etc).
So…If this is the real answer to the OP you won’t mind, maybe, providing some cites? :rolleyes:
Happy to help out. Go to StupidVideos.com and search for the video called “Pumping Gas.”
The woman sets the nozzle in the tank (with the latch thingy!), gets back in the car, gets out, adjusts her sweater, reaches over to the nozzle, which bursts into flame!. Then she pulls the nozzle out of the car, sets it, still flaming, on the ground, and runs off to get help.
I have sneaking suspicion that the sound of the fireball has been added after the fact, since I wouldn’t expect a surveillance video to have audio. But it’s a pretty exciting video.
You see here (UK) we have another safety device that stops this happening - if the nozzle isnt replaced on its hook on the pump properly the till will not allow you to affect payment and will show the nozzle as still attached to your car. I know this because a couple of times I hooked the nozzle back on the pump and went to pay and they wouldnt let me, saying the nozzle wasnt put back. I went back out and jiggled the nozzle a bit until it latched on properly to its hook and then I could pay. No danger of anyone driving off with the nozzle still attached. UNless they haven’t paid , of course. In which case they’d have bigger problems.
Dan
Thanks for the site! Check out “Maestro” as well.
As for the “You lazy bastards.” comments. I dunno about you folks, but keeping my hand in a flexed position for several minutes when it’s -25 out makes my fingers hurt.
I’m kind of curious about how cost effective it is. I understand the profit margin on gasoline is pretty slim (until lately, since it seems they’ve been price gouging), and most convenience stores that sell it (you probably know them as “gas stations”) do not depend on it. Since the only time I ever bought anything from a convenience store was while waiting for my tank to fill, I’m curious how the lost high profit sales from folks not buying anything from the stores stacks up against stolen gas, damaged pumps, et al. I think I’ve just figured out why so few places around here have the “pay at the pump” option.
I guess that just about says it. Remember folks, latches don’t kill people, people kill people. 
I like the latch thing. (As with several others, I live in a cold climate is it is not fun holding a cold metal object in sub-freezing temps. Plus, it gets boring.) And yes, it is a regional thing as to being allowed. They were illegal at all US self-service gas stations until the early 1980s. As mentioned previously, it seemed to be a matter of “we don’t trust the ignorant public to handle this concept.” Admittedly there are moments of stupid behavior or tragic accidents that occur, but there are hundreds of millions of fuel fillings in the US each month. With that amount of activity, there are bound to be a random scattering of problems. Even if it is left to the professionals
Anyway, back to the early 1980s. Then president Ronald Reagan signed (or perhaps even advocated) a law to allow the inclusion of the gas nozzle latches. IMHO it was the only good thing he did for me during his presidency.
Yes, the auto-shutoff feature has failed on me, only once though. Luckily I was standing next to it (lucky in a sense that I could get to it quickly, not that it was all over my shoes and pants 
).
But I don’t think it should be banned either. From then on, I’m always looking at how much fuel is going in. I fill up on empty, so when approaching 22.5 gallons, I’m on the lookout if cleaning the windows or anything.
It’s not that they sell it, it’s that they sell individual servings that have been chilled, just like the milk, soda and juice which no one thinks twice about popping open in the car.
I drive a vehicle with a 27 gallon tank. I had to fill the tank this morning after the “you’re low on gas” light came on, which meant that I had used 25 gallons. The pump I pulled up to was running slowly. Like more than 20 seconds to dispense 1 gallon slow. Have you ever tried to squeeze something at a consistent pressure for several very long, very boring minutes? It’s not easy. I had to keep switching hands. It would’ve been worse if it was cold, or if I drove a car that was lower to the ground, which is an even more unnatural position to stand and squeeze in.
I’m personally thankful for the pumps with latches and I try to always gas up at the same place, where I know that they have latches – and keep the windshield washer buckets filled (even in winter, when they use windshield washer fluid instead of water) and the paper towel dispensers full, and the trash cans are never overflowing.
Sorry, I still don’t buy it. The liquor stores here sell chilled single liter bottles of beer and pint/half-pint bottles of liquor. It’s a lame argument; give it up.
:rolleyes: :dubious: I believe that there may be an ISOLATED incident here or there of combustion that may have been caused from a static-vapour discharge. What I’ve yet to see, However, is any conclusive proof that there is a safety issue from a rash of fires worldwide with pumps shooting off like firecrackers. Common sense says don’t get back in your vehicle, however your odds of getting struck by lightning on a sunny day are higher.
This was a single pump, before regulations on venting and such, so it ran pretty fast – it took less than an hour. Mike was getting baked in the Avis garage, and kind of lost track of time. He wandered up to the counter, and I asked him if he had that Pinto ready for the 5:00 flight. He freaked out, and ran off. Vince, the general manager, had found the Pinto and the spilled gas about 2 minutes before Mike made it back to the garage.
A few years later, Mike did a few years in prison when they found that his ‘welding shop’ was a cover for a basement full of grow lights. Quite the farmer, our Mike.
BTW, I always use the latch, too, and I use the time to wash the windows, etc. What I don’t do is leave the area. I think there are several reasons that pumps don’t have latches: