Scythe

^^ i agree man, if safety truly is your biggest issue, than don't be so lazy as to have to leave him in the car, why is it so unreal to take him out of his baby seat? i think he'd rather wake up in his fathers arms than wake up with a stranger driving your car, or wake up to see you knocked unconscious beside your car (if as you said someone were to mug/rob/beat u). would you rather have your baby crying because you woke him, or stolen/dead? i know you posted before the odds are something like 1:1.000,000... but would if it happened, woudl you sit there and say oh the odds were so small i was justified in my actions, or would you say i cant believe i didn't take enough care of my child... you have someone who for the next couple of years is completely dependent upon your actions, odds shouldnt matter. Turn your car off and either roll down your windows, or take your child out of his seat and hold on while you pump your gas.

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

Holding a baby in your arms while pumping is not a very smart solution either; fumes and close proximity to flames should something arise.

Just fill up before hand.

OC 335d

How about pre-cool your car knowing you need to get gas? Or if you have a child, always try to leave a reasonable amount of gasoline in the car so you can get gas when it's not so hard in the day. It's not THAT hard.

tex2670

Mankind existed for many years prior to air conditioning.

Shut the car off.

geko29

As others have said, fill up as often as possible when the kid isn't in the car. If you and your wife both drive him around, you both also drive without him quite frequently as well.

If you get home with the baby and you know you're low--let's say under half a tank--make a special trip down to the corner and get gas while your wife watches the baby. Fill up both cars this way if need be.

I'm sure you're going to ask "what if one of us is out of town, and the other has to be with the baby 24/7?" Easy answer. Fill up more often. Jack up the A/C for the last few minutes before stopping, so it gets nice and cold inside. Then stop, shut off the engine, and put in a third of a tank. Should take no more than two minutes.

If for some reason you NEED to put 30 gallons in at a single stop WHILE you have the baby (and there should be no reason this is the case), then park in the shade and roll down a few windows. He's not going to die of heat stroke in 5 minutes, and he's not going to get any hotter than he would if you were holding him. Probably less so since he's in the shade and not laying on you.

Unrelated to all this, I don't understand the danger of removing a child from a car seat (though I don't think it's a good idea in this case, for other reasons). As the proud owner of a 1-year-old, I can't say that we've ever come even remotely close to dropping my son while putting him into or taking him out of the car, which has been done WELL over 1,000 times at this point. Either your car is too small, your car seat sucks, or you're doing something wrong.

leedogg

Is the baby always with you in the car? dont fill up when the baby is in the car. Or, like the person above noted, leave your key in the number 2 position so that power & AC are still on, but the engine is off.

J.P.

Sorry but how is this thread already 3 pages?

Shutting the car off is using the most basic common sense while fueling and to even begin to justify the car running because of any inconvenience is completely insane.

Lil4X

In order of preference:

1. Gas the car when the baby is at home with spouse, family, sitter, etc.
   
   
2. In an emergency where the baby is with you, gas at a moderately busy, well lit facility in a "safe" neighborhood, turn off engine, roll windows down, take keys with you while you fill up.

NEVER gas your car with the engine running. There are simply too many dangers in doing this. Leaving a child strapped in a car seat with the engine running while fueling even if it doesn't get your baby incinerated, could get child protective services involved.

NEVER leave a child in the car with the windows rolled up except in the dead of winter. Period.

NEVER leave your keys in the ignition if you are not seated behind the wheel. People who leave keys in the car are literally trying to give their cars away.

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

Jeesh ... all these posts, and not a single bit of information that would indicate that gas station explosions EVER occur because the car was running. I guess you guys watch different news channels than me, since you don't seem to notice how often kids die from heat exhaustion in cars.

I rarely fill up with my baby in the car, but my stay-at-home wife does all the time. She has a remote start that will allow her to keep the motor running while keys are NOT in the ignition. Using this would prevent anyone from jacking the car with the baby on board.

We would never leave the baby in the car if we were going inside the gas station, but getting the baby out of the rear facing car seat in the middle of the back seat is a tricky task. We haven't dropped our 7 month old yet, but It wouldn't surprise me one bit if we did.

Rolling the windows down sounds like a decent idea, but all the others who posted about how it only takes 3 minutes to fill up a tank just missed the point. I would not be at all worried about the baby being overheated in the amount of time it takes to fill up the tank. I'm concerned about something out of the ordinary that could happen that would prevent me from getting back in the car within 10 minutes.

I also realize that it is technically illegal to run the engine, but I'm not nearly as concerned about a fine as I am true safety.

vcheng

Gernby: I can appreciate where you are coming from.

The only real risk of an explosion, engine running or not, is from discharge of static electricity that may have built up. Just make sure to discharge yourself before picking up the nozzle, and while refueling, make sure that the nozzle touches the metallic rim of the gas tank inlet on the car.

The other risks, including heat build up, something happening to you, or exposure to low levels of VOCs such as benzene are unquantifiable and compartively very low, unless something else enters the picture like type 1 brittle diabetes etc.

You may get a check engine light if you refuel with the engine running, and the odd gas attendant or even a cop may chide you for leaving the engine running, but I would doubt if that would result in any meaningful fine.

Your kid(s) is(are) lucky to have such a caring parent, but as a parent myself, please try not to drive yourself nuts. Your kids will do that for you soon enough on their own

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

Thanks vcheng,

I don't get any check engine light, so it seems that the ECU will tolerate the cap being off for a few minutes while the engine is running. I have heard about the risk of static discharge, and often get shocked pretty good even when the engine is off.

Lil4X

While there are plenty of UL's about cell phones igniting gas pump fires, the real danger comes from either your car's ignition system or static electricity causing an arc between the fuel nozzle and the tank.

Gasoline fumes are heavier than air and can travel along the ground for a considerable distance on a still day. Despite efforts at vapor recovery at the dispenser (gas station-speak for pump, hose, and nozzle) a damaged system is not always closed. The car next to you may be flooding the area with fumes down around your ankles, and if your engine is running, you can find yourself standing in the middle of a flash fire of devastating proportions.

While these fires are rare, I have witnessed three - all at marinas where vapor recovery is especially critical - they are extremely serious. A quarter cup of gas dispersed in air has the explosive power of a stick of dynamite. I've seen a 54' cruiser have its cabin blown away and its deck separated from the hull by a small gasoline drip from a generator set. That incident killed four of six people on the boat, despite it's being only a couple of feet from the pier.

Pump fires when they do occur are no respecters of people. Whatever the condition of your own car or the sophistication of its vapor recovery system, the guy next to you or the dispenser itself may have a serious vapor leak. It's not worth turning your family into a flambe because you left the engine running. You reduce your hazard exposure by leaving the ignition off until you pay for your gas, get back in the car, and close the door. If something does go up at that point, at least you have the car to protect you.

newr

First, I do have a 14mos old son.

2nd, I thought you were a woman who just had her first child

3rd, I didn't think it was possible that there is another person out there that is just as paranoid as my lovely wife.


An advice for you in general..... RELAX MAN!!!!!

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

I don't think I'm paranoid at all, actually quite the opposite. My reason for posting this thread is because I would like to know if anyone can convince me that I should be more paranoid about explosions. So far, noone has given any evidence that there is any danger. Nobody has even tried to theorize about how an explosion could be caused by a running engine. I figured at least someone would try to suggest that the tank could overflow, and the splashes of the gasoline could posibly get on the catalytic converter.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

http://www.pei.org/Index.aspx?p=stop_static

Petroleum Equipment Institute has over 200 reports of refueling fires.

Their #1 recommendation for safety?

1. Turn off engine.


I've -never- heard of a kid dropping dead because the parent was putting gas in the car for 5 minutes and it was hot out.

I've heard of it happening because the parent went in to buy groceries or shop in the mall and left em there for half an hour, but that's a different problem.