What a great topic for a rant! Hilarious posts.
But I was curious, so I did some browsing on refueling mishaps. Most involve women (so I read).
The Petroleum Equipment Institute has researched fires at the pump, and attributes most to static electricity. Their website,
www.pei.org, has more info. Here is an excerpt discussing why this happens:
"The author of this report is not an expert on static electricity. It does appear to many people in the industry, however, that electrostatic charging was the probable cause of the fires. In many of the reports we received, the refueler became charged prior to or during the refueling process through friction between clothing and the car seat to such an extent that electrostatic discharges to the vehicle body, fuel cap or dispensing nozzle occurred. Seventy-eight (78) fires occurred when the fueler returned to the vehicle during the refueling process and then touched the nozzle after leaving the vehicle. Thirty-eight (38) reports described fires before the refueling process began, when the fueler touched the gas cap or the area close to it after leaving the vehicle. Twenty-eight (28) fires do not involve either of these two fact situations. In all but two of these cases the fueler was not the source of the electrical discharge and the source of ignition cannot easily be determined. We received insufficient information on seventeen (17) fires reported by NHTSA to confidently categorize them."
