The One and Only SAFETY THREAD

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Tommysyko

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They're great for cutting zip ties. Costco had a sale on a pack of 3 awhile ago.

I leave one on each driver side sun visor of each car. Extra one on the driver side head rest.


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Yukon Joe

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Ruger

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I think I have figured out why Anne Heche's crash turned into an inferno. In a word or two - Electric Fuel Pump.

All modern autos, including Heche's Porche Mini Cooper, are fuel injected, and all fuel injected vehicles have electric fuel pumps. Electric fuel pumps are typically inside the fuel tank, and fuel tanks are typically at the rear of the vehicle. Heche wrecked by driving into a house, and you can see from the photos that there was extensive front-end damage to the Mini - more than enough to compromise the fuel line, the fuel rail, or both. But the fuel tank, being at the rear of the vehcile, would have been undamaged. She was probably too injured to turn off the key and probably would not have known to turn off the key anyway, so the fuel pump kept running and pumping raw gasoline into the damaged front end of the vehicle. I don't know what started the fire - maybe the battery - but I know what fueled it - gasoline under pressure from a continuously running electric fuel pump.

Word To The Wise - If you get in a wreck, turn off the key whether the engine is still running or not.
 
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FordTechOne

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I think I have figured out why Anne Heche's crash turned into an inferno. In a word or two - Electric Fuel Pump.

All modern autos, including Heche's Porche Mini Cooper, are fuel injected, and all fuel injected vehicles have electric fuel pumps. Electric fuel pumps are typically inside the fuel tank, and fuel tanks are typically at the rear of the vehicle. Heche wrecked by driving into a house, and you can see from the photos that there was extensive front-end damage to the Mini - more than enough to compromise the fuel line, the fuel rail, or both. But the fuel tank, being at the rear of the vehcile, would have been undamaged. She was probably too injured to turn off the key and probably would not have known to turn off the key anyway, so the fuel pump kept running and pumping raw gasoline into the damaged front end of the vehicle. I don't know what started the fire - maybe the battery - but I know what fueled it - gasoline under pressure from a continuously running electric fuel pump.

Word To The Wise - If you get in a wreck, turn off the key whether the engine is still running or not.
This scenario should not occur on any modern vehicle; the fuel pump should cut out in the event of a collision. Older Ford models used an inertia switch; the impact would trip the switch and turn the pump off. On newer models the RCM sends out a message on a dedicated circuit to have power cut to the PCM and fuel pump, among other components. I would be very surprised if the Mini was not equipped with this feature.
 
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Ruger

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This scenario should not occur on any modern vehicle; the fuel pump should cut out in the event of a collision. Older Ford models used an inertia switch; the impact would trip the switch and turn the pump off. On newer models the RCM sends out a message on a dedicated circuit to have power cut to the PCM and fuel pump, among other components. I would be very surprised if the Mini was not equipped with this feature.
I agree - it shouldn't happen.
But if that safety feature failed - if the Mini had one - it certainly would explain the fire.
In any case, turning off the key in the event of an accident is certainly not a bad practice.
 

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