this post was submitted on 06 Apr 2024
883 points (98.6% liked)
Privacy
32130 readers
279 users here now
A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
Some Rules
- Posting a link to a website containing tracking isn't great, if contents of the website are behind a paywall maybe copy them into the post
- Don't promote proprietary software
- Try to keep things on topic
- If you have a question, please try searching for previous discussions, maybe it has already been answered
- Reposts are fine, but should have at least a couple of weeks in between so that the post can reach a new audience
- Be nice :)
Related communities
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
They do engineer the pumps to ground the static charge. That's what can cause the arc.
You discharge yourself the first time you touch the pump before you fill up.
Getting back into the car defeats the purpose by then grounding you in the presence of fuel vapors, rather than before.
What you're saying doesn't make any sense. If you're engineering something to prevent a spark from a static charge, you engineer it to prevent a spark from a static charge. You don't engineer it to "ground you at first and then fail" if you pick up a static charge for some reason.
EDIT: And there are a lot more ways to become statically charged than getting in and out of a car (which in a lot of cases isn't going to give you a static charge anyways -- e.g. leather seats on cotton clothes is extremely unlikely to generate a static charge).
Yes, which is why the recommendation is to keep your hand on the handle while pumping or touch a metal part of your car prior to returning to the pump, and don't get back into a car.
I have a real life degree in automotive technology and engineering, and you saw a Mythbusters episode.
We can keep doing this forever if you like, but you're still very poorly informed on how safety is engineered into your vehicle fuel system and the mechanisms that support it.
Here is some reading to help you, API recommended fuel procedures (if you're not familiar with the API just read any gas pump or bottle of oil until you are): https://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas/consumer-information/consumer-resources/staying-safe-pump
I have a degree in computer science, I've worked on electrical engineering projects, my father is an electrician, I have a close friend and mentor that's a forensic electrical engineer, etc.
If y'all in the automotive space think this is a real problem, fix it. It is trivial to shield something from static electricity; TRIVIAL. Frankly it's unacceptable it hasn't been fixed if you're so adamant there's a serious risk to the public.
This reads to me as an "ass covering" article for a very very very rare event. At 1/10,000,000 estimated probability I'd have to live thousands of lives at the rate I fill up my car to ever see this.
I'm not going to worry about this more than I'm going to worry about winning the lottery or spontaneous combustion frankly; the probabilities do not warrant concern. Which I'm sure is the real reason nothing has been done here.
Citing your dad's job is a wild way to claim expertise.
I question your ability as an engineer if you can't understand how to shield something from static electricity. Hint: use non-conducive material to create an isolated ground that never makes contact with the gasoline, they've been doing it for all kinds of sensitive electronics for decades. This technique is also used to prevent your metal kitchen mixer from killing you if there's a short.
Am I "the expert" in this domain? No. Do I have plenty of exposure to it and other engineering disciplines to make a judgement call on the facts; absolutely.
Watch out entire industry that's been operating for more than a century, Dark Arc's dad is an engineer and he has correctly interpreted the facts you can't even seem to grasp.
Quick, now do perpetual motion! Those simpletons have barely even tried.
Not that this will mean anything to you, but this feels a lot like when someone says "why don't we just run lean so we save fuel?".
🙄
Thank you for your concern for my safety. I'm not interested.
My advice to you is, if you're worried about this, never get in a car again.