Fun with gasoline (long)

[SongsOfDragons]

I used to be sooooooooooo confused when I heard the Yankess talk of 'gas'. I thought American cars ran on the stuff that lights mum's oven.

But at the same time I always thought of petrol as brown, not clear.

[ditchdj]

I used to be sooooooooooo confused when I heard the Yankess talk of 'gas'. I thought American cars ran on the stuff that lights mum's oven.

Our local utility company supposedly has company cars that run on gas as in natural gas.

[ditchdj]

Speaking of gas (as in gasoline) I know firsthand how flammable the stuff is. When I was a kid and I used to see a pile of black pavement ants on the sidewalk in my yard my dad would soak them with lighter fluid and set them on fire. Small, containable fire, no problem. Well one day I decided to douse them with gasoline (since when you ignite gasoline after pouring it in the movies, it tends to burn just like lighter fluid) and as soon as I lit it I found myself dodging a massive fireball that came just inches away from char-broiling my face!

Yeah it's by no means nothing to mess around with. Luckily I came out of that unscathed.

[Captain Trips]

Speaking of gas (as in gasoline) I know firsthand how flammable the stuff is. When I was a kid and I used to see a pile of black pavement ants on the sidewalk in my yard my dad would soak them with lighter fluid and set them on fire. Small, containable fire, no problem. Well one day I decided to douse them with gasoline (since when you ignite gasoline after pouring it in the movies, it tends to burn just like lighter fluid) and as soon as I lit it I found myself dodging a massive fireball that came just inches away from char-broiling my face!

Yeah it's by no means nothing to mess around with. Luckily I came out of that unscathed.

Yeah, lucky all right! Really, gasoline is even more explosive than Hydrogen! That's what makes it a good internal-combustion fuel, that it explodes so easily when mixed with air!

[ditchdj]

I admit that it was probably a pretty stupid stunt, but it did teach me about how flammable it really is and gave me a newfound respect for it.

[Argabarga]

Gas fumes are the dangerous part, liquid gasoline will burn, but if you atomize it in the air, or throw it on a non-soakable surface and let it evaporate, you'll get quite a fireball from it....

[Primer]

13. Truck drivers (as in 18 wheelers), as a group, are by far the best drivers. Especially at night.

If you take into consideration the total number of miles driven per person, and their accident rates, I'd have to agree with you...HOWEVER...the only two wrecks I've ever been involved in, I was rear-ended by big trucks.

1979, I was rear-ended in my '75 Pinto by a dump truck (big 10-wheel that hauls gravel and dirt). September 28, I was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler. Both times, the only thing that saved my life was that I had a FULL GASOLINE TANK. There were no fumes to catch at the time of impact.

This last time, I did joke with EMS that I sure could use a cigarette, as they were trying to get me cut out.

[Rahmota]

Um just to jump in here on the devils advocate side. I have been in a situation before where I have run out of gas and had to use an alternative container to transport the gas from the station to my car as (1) the station did not have a complimentary gas can (2) I did not have enough money to get both the gas and a can at the same time (3) I had no way to get ahold of anyone who could come get me. At that time I do believe I used a two liter bottle or something like it to get the gas to the car.


Whats really cool talking about explosions is when we would burn out the ditches there was this culvert over it. Basically a steel pipe about 15' long and 18" across and if you poured gas on both side of it the vapors would mingle and if you threw a match at one end of the ditch you'd have this really wicked fireball/mushroom cloud come out the other end. Sort of like when we'd spray butane down groundhog holes. BOOM!

[Gurndigarn]

13. Truck drivers (as in 18 wheelers), as a group, are by far the best drivers. Especially at night.

True, but the ones that are sucky are dangerous. Their speed limit in my state is 10 MPH less than mine. I am usually speeding (barely). They should not be passing me. Especially considering how long it takes them to slow down.

The most amusing accident I saw... I was heading down a state road. One of the small, two lane ones that rolls with the terrain. At my exit, it went down a hill, then turned into a bridge across a limited access divided highway. Not much leveling out before the onramp to the divided highway, and no "up". And there are trees along most of the smaller stretch of road.

Had a cattle truck that looked like the driver was frustrated because it didn't respond like a car. He caught up to me on all the downslopes and straights, and lagged behind on all the upslopes and turns. Finally, he passed me on a length of straightway... I caught up to him at the junction. It seems he was planning on turning that way, as well... just didn't realize how quickly the turn came. The edge barrier didn't do much to stop a 30-40 ton truck, really. Or perhaps, since it was less than a meter tall, all it did was help "trip" the truck onto its side, where it slid (not rolled) down the rest of the onramp, coming to rest at the bottom. With the cattle door open. With lots of cows thinking, "hey, grass!"

It was less fun on the return trip, after cars had backed up for 3-4 km.

[Bliss]

12. People who drive mini-vans, as a group, have the heaviest right feet of the entire population.
13. Truck drivers (as in 18 wheelers), as a group, are by far the best drivers. Especially at night.

Agree on both accounts. Minivan drivers, I want to kill anyday. and about truck drivers, one possibly saved our life on the only trip the whole family together did to USA (other than that we had a few trips separate), this leg of the trip, we drove Miami to Tampa, to visit Piers Anthony at his home, and then back Tampa to Miami (then off to San Jose in plane, drive to SF and then to LA.) on the road from Tampa to Miami at night we were attacked by the worst storm I've seen on a while (and I live on a tropical country!), the visibility was about 20cm, that is, 20cm beyound the windshield, nothing was visible. NOTHING, we saw no road, no signs, no NOTHING, we tought we would have to hitch the ditch, turn on the emergencies and pray it over, until he suddenly came right behind a large large truck... Well we could see his rear lights if we stuck to the truck and it seems the driver had some HELL of lighting at his dispossal, because he guided us, all the way sticking close to him to Miami safely.

I tell you that truck was the only thing we saw in a sea of rain and blackness all around. He saved us.

Yeah it's by no means nothing to mess around with. Luckily I came out of that unscathed.

A little note to people playing with gasoline or seeying others playing with it. If gasoline in a car or floor ignites, never NEVER douse it with water. The gas will float on the water's surface, and continue to burn while the water spreads it around. What you must do if the fire is endagering a person/car/explosion is throw sand or another absorbent dry fire retardant over it.

[Bella_Vixen]

Um just to jump in here on the devils advocate side. I have been in a situation before where I have run out of gas and had to use an alternative container to transport the gas from the station to my car as (1) the station did not have a complimentary gas can (2) I did not have enough money to get both the gas and a can at the same time (3) I had no way to get ahold of anyone who could come get me. At that time I do believe I used a two liter bottle or something like it to get the gas to the car.

Not to be a pain in the ass, but gas stations are in no way required to have a "complimentary" gas can. We can't be expected to babysit people. At the store I used to work at, we had one that someone stole from us. After that, my boss screamed at me that we actually were supposed to rent it to the person for $5.

Everyone should seriously consider keeping a small gallon size can in their trunk.

[Jester]

...this leg of the trip, we drove Miami to Tampa, to visit Piers Anthony at his home...

You visited Piers Anthony at his home?

One of my all-time favorite authors, living just the other side of the state from me, but have never met the man or even know where he lives, other than the town. And you get to visit him in his home.

Okay, it's now official. I hate you.

[Becks]

At the store I used to work at, we had one that someone stole from us. After that, my boss screamed at me that we actually were supposed to rent it to the person for $5.

Didn't we have to hold their DL, too?

[protege]

True, but the ones that are sucky are dangerous.

This is true.

Anyone who has driven through the south junction of I-70 and I-79 near Washington, PA knows all about them. Heading north on 79, towards I-70, a few miles from the junction, the speed limit drops from 65mph (55 then) to 40, and to 25mph at the bottom. The 25mph limit was there for a reason--the highway makes a huge circle, and climbs to meet I-70 heading west. Most people realized what was coming up, and would slow down. However, some truckers wouldn't...at their own peril.

Years ago, there was a Jersey barrier there...just over 3 feet high. This little wall ran along the left edge of the entire circle. What usually happened, is trucks would come down the hill too fast, and miss the turn. They'd actually *flip* over the wall...into traffic coming the other way After several accidents, not only was the road widened, but the wall was made about 2.5 times higher. There are multiple warning signs, but still accidents happen. They aren't as bad though--trucks still hit the wall now and then.

If the cops would just sit there, they'd easily pass out a few thousand tickets a year from speeders. Maybe that would take care of things.

The most memorable incident involved a semi hauling pigs. This guy was trying to merge onto I-70 east...when his rig flipped over. I don't think anyone got hurt, but pigs went flying all over the place. Kinda puts that whole "when pigs fly" phrase into a new perspective

[Crosshair]

If the cops would just sit there, they'd easily pass out a few thousand tickets a year from speeders. Maybe that would take care of things.

I doubt it. The problem is that in much of the US and other countries in general is that speed limits are often set arbitrarily and do dot reflect the speed that the road is safely able to handle, very few follow the "85th percentile rule" from my observation.

I am sure we can all give examples of roads that we drive on where the safe flow of traffic is 10+ MPH higher than the posted speed limit. Where I live. The only speed limits that are seen as being "reasonable" where I live are the ones on the highways (75 MPH), the interstate (70 MPH), and on residential streets (25 MPH). Almost everything else is set too low and people thus look at speed limits as something to follow only when cops are around or if the weather is bad.

The solution would be to stop using speeding tickets as a sourse of revenue and instead raise the limits to what the road can safely handle under good conditions. When drivers see the speed limits as realistic they will observe them and see a sudden decrease in speed as a warning instead of an anoyance.

/Just my