Signage or People.

  • Thread starter Grayfox
  • 27 comments
  • 1,190 views
11,985
Australia
Australia
I_Grayson_Fox_I
Motorists are being hit with hundreds of dollars in engine damages, as confusing bowser signage causes them to fill up their cars with the wrong fuel.

An NRMA survey of more than 1300 motorists, released on Wednesday, found that one in 10 people had filled up their vehicles with the wrong fuel and almost half of those blamed the mistake on confusing signage.

The mishap had left people with diesel instead of regular petrol in their tank, causing their cars to require towing.

Some motorists reported damage bills of up to $1,000.

NRMA Group CEO Tony Stuart has called on oil companies to improve their signage at the pump.

"It's clear that with so many motorists getting caught out at the bowser that the oil companies need to do a better job of clearly marking their pumps," Mr Stuart said in a statement on Wednesday.

He warned motorists not to drive their vehicle if they did use the wrong fuel as it would only cause further problems.


http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8427319/confusing-pump-signage-causing-petrol-woes

Umm, I have never filled up with wrong fuel the people that blamed the signs are just idiots who don't want to admit they were not paying attention.

Does anyone else think that the fuel pump signage is bad or just the drivers are complete and utter pillocks.
 
Anyone got a picture of the "confusing signage"?

If more than one people made the same mistake, chances are it is due to a confusing signage.
 
Last time I checked deisel pump handles are always green in the U.S. also larger nozzles or something left over from the days of lead. Putting the wrong fuel is not an easy thing to do here.
 
Last time I checked deisel pump handles are always green in the U.S. also larger nozzles or something left over from the days of lead. Putting the wrong fuel is not an easy thing to do here.

And with modern pumps, you also have to hit the Diesel button.

Though I recall watching a woman with a Prius trying to use the diesel pump handle and not understanding why nothing was coming about after selecting gasoline.
 
Last time I checked deisel pump handles are always green in the U.S.

If that's the case you might get some inattentive Brits trying to put diesel in a petrol car, as over here the petrol pump handles are green and the diesel handles are black. Not that that makes any difference to the OP's Australian article.

But mostly it's just people being idiots and not wanting to admit they're wrong.
 
I have seen some diesel pumps that have tabs on the top where the handle is.

When I go out tomorrow I will see the colors of the pumps and their labels and report back.
 
At any petrol I've ever seen the pump colours are Petrol and Diesel.

Not that hard to remember. And if you are unsure, what's wrong with, oh I don't know... reading the pump?
 
Roo
If that's the case you might get some inattentive Brits trying to put diesel in a petrol car, as over here the petrol pump handles are green and the diesel handles are black. Not that that makes any difference to the OP's Australian article.

But mostly it's just people being idiots and not wanting to admit they're wrong.

Indeed, it's the exact opposite here, green for diesel and black for gasoline. So I could see how an immigrant, or someone on vaction, could get confused. But still, diesel is dispensed from a special nozzle, which is far enough from the one that gives normal gasoline that you should be able to notice a difference, and is activated by a special button clearly marked "diesel" (rather than the three or more different octane settings available on the black side of the pump).

Nevertheless, I've heard of it happening.
 
Our (Australia) Diesel handles are black and we don't have to press a button on the pump the start filling. We as most of the world have restrictors in the fuel filler on unleaded petrol engined cars to stop leaded (which doesn't exist anymore) and Diesel being filled into the wrong tanks. However this isn't the case on old cars that originally run on leaded fuel.
 
Ah, well, those old cars need to be destroyed anyway, right? Being all environmentally unfriendly and all.

Who cares if it's a priceless GTO? :odd:
 
All old cars should be donated to a mechanical school so the students can learn on them or they should be given to Jay Leno.
 
And if you are unsure, what's wrong with, oh I don't know... reading the pump?

That.

not all are dumb people, just sometimes somewhere else in the head while filling up.
But Read what you buy would probably be the best advice.

It like in Scrubs:
Analgeticum doesn't mean you need to put that med from behind. Read the package!
 
The colour of the pumps are different and the fuel is clearly marked.

Also modern cars have a device which will not let a wrong fuel pump fit in the fuel hole.

Conclusion stupid people
 
Also modern cars have a device which will not let a wrong fuel pump fit in the fuel hole.

If it doesn't fit, make it fit or pour fuel with the nozzle just in past the fuel door.

And most people do tend to full up at the same station or brand of station so after a while you know which to use.

For me it is the middle pump so i know i am using E10 plus it has a picture of a leaf saying unleaded E10 on a green background.
 
I've heard of it happening over here plenty of times. It's usually someone hiring or borrowing an unfamiliar car. Even still, that's more the reason to a) check what fuel the car runs on, and b) check which pump it is you are picking up before doing the deed.
 
Here (apparently all over Europe)

GREEN - Petrol (also: narrower/thinner nozzle)
BLACK - Diesel (also: larger nozzle, won't fit in a petrol car)
 
Yes, people do manage to put diesel in a gasoline-engined fuel tank. It happened at least once a month at one of the dealerships I worked at, and owners ran the gamut from remorseful/apologetic to indignant.

This was oddly subverted at Audi, when we received a few petrol Q7 models that accidentally had TDi badges on it (they wouldn't be available in North America for another year or so)...fortunately, they were caught during pre-delivery inspections.
 
Yes, people do manage to put diesel in a gasoline-engined fuel tank. It happened at least once a month at one of the dealerships I worked at.

This was oddly subverted at Audi, when we received a few petrol Q7 models that accidentally had TDi badges on it (they wouldn't be available in North America for another year or so)...fortunately, they were caught during pre-delivery inspections.

I think someone was trolling in the Audi factory.
 
Umm, I have never filled up with wrong fuel the people that blamed the signs are just idiots who don't want to admit they were not paying attention.
Agreed. It's amazing that dumb people can be so dumb, and then are too dumb to admit it on top of that.
 
Well, it's rather embarrassing to be busted as a dumbass, isn't it?

Of course, I wouldn't know anything about that.
 
This kinda reminds me of the Father Ted episode where Mrs Doyle ends up putting unleaded in Bishop Brennan's diesel-powered car. :lol:
 
I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to analyzing and creating stupid-easy signage that any visually-literate person can comprehend correctly.

If the signage in deed WAS confusing or can be confusing in any way, then it's the designer's fault. If it was presented in a way that a user using the pump for the first time can go through the procedure and pick the correct fuel with little hesitation, then it really shouldn't be anyone's fault other than the user themself.
 
I was going to fill up the Corolla a couple weeks ago (with gas :sly:), and I saw a Jetta TDI pull up to the other side of the pump. The driver (mid 30's woman) let her daughter (14 maybe?) out of the passenger seat to fill it up, and she grabbed the gas nozzle before me (one gas nozzle and one diesel on the pump). I let her open the fuel door before I stepped in and told her that it was gasoline and the car was a diesel. Just as I told her, her mom rolled down the window and grilled her daughter for not knowing to put diesel in the car. I thought it was the mom's fault really, she can't expect her 14 year old daughter to know that if she doesn't drive or take an interest in cars.
 
Pupik
Yes, people do manage to put diesel in a gasoline-engined fuel tank. It happened at least once a month at one of the dealerships I worked at, and owners ran the gamut from remorseful/apologetic to indignant.

This was oddly subverted at Audi, when we received a few petrol Q7 models that accidentally had TDi badges on it (they wouldn't be available in North America for another year or so)...fortunately, they were caught during pre-delivery inspections.
I did it recently putting gas in a diesel truck manager was driving... Only 1 litre which we mixed with 90 literally of diesel without issue but I was a little worried. It was just habit for me. I work for Nissan and Honda and it's extremely rare for us to get a diesel (in a year and a half we've had 3 come in on trades). I go to the gas station about 10 times a day putting gasoline in cars so it was just habit to grab the same nozzle as always. I just squeezed the handle and then quickly let go when I realized... Oops.
 
Back