While we do see some people turn off their car engines while refueling, the sight of a biker or rickshaw driver (and their passenger) getting off the vehicle before refueling is extremely rare. And that’s a bigger problem than it appears to be.
Statistics tell us that this seemingly innocent mistake or negligence continues to cause great damage to drivers, as well as their vehicles. Just looking up the matter on the internet shows how widespread and frequent the problem is.
“Bike engulfed in flames at petrol pump.” “Man burned while fueling motorcycle. Bike & Biker immediately catch fire after filling petrol.” “Motorcyclist at petrol pump catches fire, incident caught on CCTV camera.” These are just some of the incidents that get reported in the media every once in a while.
In the last 5 years, over 2,000 fire incidents have been reported in the country. There are approximately 25 million 2-wheelers (bikes) and 1 million 3-wheelers (rickshaws) in Pakistan. With more bikes and rickshaws hitting Pakistani roads every day, the risk is only getting bigger.
These numbers may just be the tip of the iceberg as they’re the cases reported only by the industry; the actual number must be much higher. With thousands of new bikes and rickshaws hitting the Pakistani streets every day, the situation calls for a mass-level awareness initiative.
Looking around our region, we see countries taking the matter seriously and going to the extent of legislating in the interest of the general public’s safety.
India, China, and the Philippines have all mandated legislation for customers to get off their vehicles before refueling.
China’s “safety code for operation in fuel filling station”, for example, says “the driver should leave his seat before refueling the motorcycle and place the vehicle come to standstill.”
A similar refueling guide in India says “riders or pillion shall dismount before the commencement of refueling” besides mandating the ignition to be turned off.
The countries that require the rider and pillion to dismount the vehicle before refueling well understand the risks involved, and the legislation is founded on some mishaps that shouldn’t repeat.
There are many factors that cause straddling-related fire incidents. These include factors like a static charge, uncovered spark plugs, modifications in 3-wheelers, etc.
In the event of a fire, dismounting before refueling will enable one to escape swiftly and prevent severe burns. We have also observed that there is also a tendency to throw away bikes in case of fire during refueling, this spills the fuel in the vehicle tank and could cause multiple burn injuries/fatalities to other people.
A general question asked by many bikers and rickshaw drivers is ‘why is a car driver not asked to get off before refueling?’. The reason is that the fuel tank, engine/spark plug, and customer are all at different locations in a 4-wheeler, unlike a 2-wheeler, which means it does not carry the same risk.
Fortunately, preventing such incidents is easy; all you have to do first is get off the vehicle yourself and ask the passenger(s) to do the same.
Here’s a quick to-do list when you’re fueling your bike or rickshaw:
Doing so will reduce your exposure to gasoline vapors during refueling, lessen your possibility of contact/injury in case of product overflow on hot parts of the vehicle, and allow you more time to react in case of an accident.
Shell Pakistan has launched a nationwide awareness campaign on straddling safety and wants to make dismounting two- and three-wheelers before refueling a common practice in the country for public safety.
The Shell staff is trained on the matter and is creating awareness amongst customers to understand the risks involved and adopt this safety habit.