You drove and pulled up to the gas station to fill your gas tank. You exited your vehicle, opened your gas tank cover, grabbed and put the dispenser nozzle in. You also had to pay at some point.
How can you forget that the hose is still connected to your car when you drive off?
How can you forget that the hose is still connected to your car when you drive off?
I think the key step here is to not remember it.
tired, distracted. Drunk and/or high and needing munchies.
Or you just have adhd. I have a habit of doing 3 checks before driving off so this doesn’t happen to me. One as i get into the car, one look in my side mirror, and one look at the pump to make sure the handle is back in its place, and I’ve almost driven off without putting it back still.
One moment you’re pumping gas, the next you’re already switched into gear, whatever happened between those two is anyone’s guess.
Thanks for the responses.
TIL: Americans pay first, then fill. Now I can understand how you could easily get distracted once it is in and locked.
To clarify : this is absolutely impossible to accidentally happen in the EU, because the payment transaction isn’t completed until the nozzle is placed back onto its support (that’s when the pump shuts off).
It’s also impossible in India because they pump it for you and you’re not even allowed to do it yourself
That doesn’t make it impossible. Nozzle finishes, then you drive off before the attendant removes it. Quite possible.
That’s how it is or was in many places in the US. Not many states do it anymore.
I think it’s only New Jersey now. It used to be Oregon also but I think late last year they removed that requirement.
You are correct that it is no longer required in OR but many places at least still offer it as an option
A lot of pumps in the US don’t shut off until the nozzle is placed back on the hook, at least if you pay at the pump. It’s possible that the pump could shut off if you prepay with cash and it hits the amount that you paid, but that’s not as common these days. It used to be possible to pay with cash after pumping, but that’s basically been phased out.
What do you mean by the transaction isn’t complete? Does it hold your card until the nozzle is put back, or do you pump then pay after?
Your not thinking about it. Muscle memory.
Something distracts you, a phone call, a loud sound, kids, suddenly remembering a urgent matter. You forgot where you were in the process and just skip a step.
Human nature. The same reason drivers can just run into a wall, car and train! Routine becomes ignore and you just forget / zone it out
This is why almost self driving cars are so dangerous. They will throw people into responsible driving mode and they won’t have been paying attention.
Super tired and defeated from your daily grind
I don’t know. In my country no gas can be paid unless the nozzle has been placed back. The machine registers as “still pumping”, and the gas station attendant sees this and cannot process the payment. Why you would do this any other way baffles my mind.
Why you would do this any other way baffles my mind.
It used to be common to pay after in America decades ago. But paying after means you can drive off without paying. Stations calculated the cost of occasionally needing to reattach the hose VS the cost of more frequent theft. This was at the time when card payments at the pump became popular so the cash payer group that’s inconvenienced by the change got smaller anyways.
Yeah, same here (most of Europe).
But I think Americans pay first then fill.
I did it once. You pay first at pump, I went into store to get snacks, came back kids melting down in back seat, dealt with that, got in and forgot all about it. Remembered just as I pulled about 6 inches too far away. Oops.
Any damage?
They made me pay to replace the quick disconnect $50 - but I’ve read mixed reports on them either being easily reconnectable in 20 seconds or one time use replace only. I was embarrassed so I paid the dude. He was mostly just like “oh mannnn really?”.
Ouch. Well there you have it!
Never did manage to do that, but was close twice (none of my car would let you drive with a open fuel tank cover).
First was babybrain. Extended periods of not sleeping more than 1.5h in a row and not more than 4h a day in total because your kid is sick/toothing are doing weird things in your brain.
The second time was during COVID. I work as a paramedic part time and we did change our shift model to 24h shifts due to so many sick colleagues. Was the second shift “in a row” (24h on, 24h off, 24h on). Well…None of those shifts were 24h, most were 25-26h. Because we got hammered by calls. Literally no downtime, one critical patient after another. When driving home I had to get gas. Forgot to pay (we post pay here), forgot to take the god damn hose out. Nearly cried when the fucking car didn’t start (due to the hose being in).
So TLDR: Not enough sleep is the answer for me here.
Look at this guy with his functioning brain that never forgets something just by walking 10 feet
Yeah I read it and was like “is this guy asking how you can forget something?”
Good 30% change I forget what I was in the process of doing if I have to walk through a door to get it done.
I was drunk and couldn’t drive, so my wife took me to get more beer. She asked me to put gas in our vehicle so I did because it was cold out. I noticed the pump behind me had the nozzle sitting on the ground which was hilarious to me. I took a snapchat picture and posted it saying “what a dumbass!” then I went inside to get my beer.
I get back in the truck and I’m having a grand old time showing my wife what the idiot behind us must have done when I hear the “CLUNK”. I was told I turned as white as a ghost. I’d done it. It was my fault.
I went inside, the cashier knew I was drunk (I was being obnoxious). I was profusely apologized and admitted it was all my fault. She went outside with me, explained it didn’t break and that they can reattach it, BUT there’s a charge.
The cashier then said to me “get in your truck and get as far away as possible immediately. I didn’t see you, this didn’t happen, and I don’t know what happened to the camera footage. Have a nice night.”
I hopped in the truck and just told my wife DRIVE. Security came rolling up as we were leaving (by chance).
Cool cashier!
So… OP…
I gotta ask… why this question? I feel like there’s a story here.
I saw yet another online post of someone driving off, ripping the whole station off the ground, starting a fire…
In the US and other countries you can lock the noozle and fill up without holding the hoze. In EU you need to hold the hoze to fill up or press a button when you need LPG. It’s pretty hard to forget something when you’re standing next to it. (And still some people manage to do just that)
In the EU the nozzle handle also has a lock-in mechanism. But it looks like the main difference is that in the EU we can’t pay until the nozzle is placed back on the support. That’s what stops the pumping. Until then you’re still paying.
Now I wonder what stops people from just driving off without paying. Is there a camera or something?
Yeah cameras, but also pay at pump systems that preauthorise a card payment then dispense the fuel, then charge whatever it cost (after the pump is placed back in the holder).
Most gas station I’ve been to in the USA remove the little metal plate that allows the trigger lock to catch, so exactly this doesn’t happen. You have to keep your hand on the handle the entire time or it stops pumping.
Coworker did it three times. Autopay by the nozzle, fuel cap on other side of the car, not looking at side mirrors, Bingo!
Why would the fuel cap be on the other side of the car from the filly filly gas hole?
Fuel cap and filling hole on the passenger side and not on the driver side
(On some vehicles)
Not only is that not what you said, but that doesn’t inherently increase the risk of driving off with the nozzle in the car.
It has nothing to do with when or how you pay.
It’s all about the lock that lets you leave the nozzle pumping while you go do something else. That’s what makes it easy to forget you have the nozzle in your car, since you’re not holding it for the entire filling process.
I have never heard of it happen locally, but seen countless posts from US with hoses sticking out of cars. For the longest time I had no clue how they manage to do it, surely they aren’t so much dumber than us?
Then I learned that american pumps are different to ours. Here you have to hold the trigger the entire time to pump, while there one can just leave it in and wander off.
We also have trigger-locks on EU pumps.
surely they aren’t so much dumber than us?
LOL
Do some countries or areas have gas pumps that you just insert and then they pump without you constantly squeezing the handle? The ones I’m used to feel kinda impossible to forget because there is no reason to ever let go of the hose handle until it’s back in place.
Yes, the ones here (California) can be set to keep pumping automatically until the tank is full and then stop.
Aha, then I could easily see myself making that mistake during a tired and stressful day if my phone rang while paying or something.
For anyone curious. this is how those things work.
I assume the only part missing for the european nozzles is the little latch that holds it open.
As a European: we got the latch.
Yep, the pin is removed. There are tools to act as pin available. (Nails for one)
We also have trigger-locks on EU pumps.
Wisconsin, too.
The USA is weird… You’re in one State and you aren’t allowed to put fuel in your car by yourself then you cross the border to the next State and you can put fuel by yourself AND you can do it without having to hold the nozzle while it’s pumping…
That’s just New Jersey, and if you’re in New Jersey you have bigger problems anyway.
Oh wow, Oregon got rid of that stupid law!
Imagine that, you’ve got people there that had to put gas in their car for the first time in 50+ years of driving!
I bet the mechanics had a great few months.
