How can you drive off a gas station with the hose still connected?
How can you drive off a gas station with the hose still connected?
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).
So are Europeans just more honest and ethical than Americans? Or do all gas stations have better theft prevention systems? In the US, there is often 1 cashier managing 12 pumps AND ringing up vice sales (cigarettes, lottery tickets, junk food). In some states there a pumps with no human on site at all.
What's to stop someone from driving off after filling up in the EU?
In the UK, petrol stations almost always have CCTV monitoring pumps, and can use number plates to identify anyone who leaves without paying. Probably similar in the EU I would think.
That said, it's also increasingly common to have a pay at the pump system, where you have to use your credit/debit card before you can fill up, with the amount being taken off automatically based on how much fuel you used.
In all EU countries I drove trough, the pump doesn't auto-start when you unhook the nozzle from the pump. I think the cashier has to manually allow it to start, from their control system/computer.
So I suspect they glance at clients through the shop's window/cameras, and they don't start the pump if you look shady (hooded, no plates on vehicle) and they suspect you may run it off.
For example if you ride a motorbike, the cashier sometimes doesn't start the pump until you remove your helmet / uncover your face (allowing cameras to see your face).
And yes, after filling-up you then need to go pay at the desk. There can be a waiting line if there are more pumps than open cashdesks.
You could easily tank then gun it. But there are cameras everywhere. They have your face & plates.
there a pumps with no human on site at all.
For these we need to swipe a payment method before the pump starts. It locks a sum on your card, say 200EUR, and when you hook the nozzle back it adjusts the payment transaction to only the amount consumed and debits you.
Probably a combination of better theft deterance, and peoples expectations for convenience. In NZ there's a mix of some stations that let you fill before paying, and some that don't. When some stations first started operating on the pay first model it felt really inconvenient and annoying, so I guess it's also a way to compete with other stations apart from price. Some stations will probably eat the cost of theft if it results in better sales.
Also probably that there's other types of crime that are more popular in Europe. Maybe because registering a vehicle is more of a hassle in many countries there than in many states in the USA? So criminals are less inclined to do crimes that will get thier vehicle wanted from cctv footage, unless they can easily steal some plates from another vehicle.
It's also impossible in India because they pump it for you and you're not even allowed to do it yourself
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?
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.
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.
Imagine you get back after a long, hectic, infuriating day. You hear your car beep for fuel so you pull into a gas station.
You get out and you go through the motions of filling up your car. It is such a usual procedure you don't have to think any more. Which is good because you're using that time to think of choice words to describe your asshole boss.
You go into the station, pay and come back, still very much on autopilot while you think about your boss.
Except there's one motion you didn't go through. And now it haunts your gas tank forever. Until you take it off.
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.
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!
I don’t get this?
So they go out of the car, put the pump in, pumped it, forgot to take pump out, paid, went back into the car, and drove off?
With autopay the payment is done automatically by reading a proximity device on the filling hole, with credit/debit cards you put the card in to activate the pump, not at the end of pumping.
Go out of the car, put nozzle on other side of the car, go back inside the car waiting for it to be done, assume a station worker took the nozzle out, drive, hear a station worker screaming, drive back to return part of the pump.
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.
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...
and you can't even pay until it's back in place
Er, you pay at the pump with your card beforehand in most places now
Follow-up question for Americans : what happens if you pay for, say 50$ and end up only filling up 40$? Can you go back to the cashdesk and ask for a refund on the difference?
Yes you can, and it is a normal situation to be in.
Depends, if it’s prepay by credit card you only get billed for amount used regardless of how much you tell the cashier. If you prepay by cash you have to go get change.
Most pump transactions are just done by credit or debit card and you are billed for actual use.
Because even though you shouldn't leave the thing unattended in case it slips out while on auto mode people do, and then just forget about it because they are distracted.
adhd prolly idk
Yeah I haven't done this with a gas nozzle, but I walk off without stuff I need and which I was just holding basically every day, so I will probably manage this feat of incredible stupidity eventually.
You pull up. Get out. Put the nozzle in. Then you go inside. There, you wait in line for 5 minutes, because the dick from another pump decided to buy a fucking coffee and a sandwich, and the only employee is busy making those for him, instead of operating the pumps. Then you actually pay and get the gas flowing. By the time you're back at the car, it's already finished pumping.
So, there can be a time gap of several minutes with multiple actions and distractions during it. Is it really that surprising people forget to pull the thing out, occasionally?
As where I live you pay for the gas after you have filled it up and you hold in the pump handle the entire time, with going inside to pay and return when it has finished pumping being impossible. So yes it is quite hard to imagine how people can forget it., it would require some skill to do that here.
Yeah, I know. Most comments in this thread say the exact same thing.
However, it's obviously not the case everywhere.
The OP didn't exactly specify where he lives and only said that you have to pay "at some point", so I'm giving my point of view.
Obviously it's harder for forget it you have to hold the thing, but that thing isn't universal.
I'm paranoid I'm going to do this one day from lack of sleep.
I was stoned