On 16-Oct-2003, Mark & Juanita wrote:

How about the fact that self-serve gas stations in the other 47 states
aren't going up in impressive balls of flame with any regularity?

I was consulting for an oil company earlier this year and got to watch a
video from a service station taken the day before. Self serve dispensers
are not allowed to have locking (i.e always on) nozzles. A woman in a van
managed to jam one open and got back into her vehicle to wait. It overflowed
and when she got out and touched the nozzle, the whole thing went up. I
joked (not appreciated by the boss) that she must have jammed it open with
a cigarette lighter. Actually, it was probably static. It does happen.
And some folks are stupid enough to override the safety features.

Mike