It went something like this- Some cube-dweller at a .GOV agency decided that the old fuel can (that worked and didn't spill fuel all over) was too dangerous.
So they mandated a new kind of spout...that didn't work.
Then they mandated another kind that spilled fuel all over (making thing safer, you know).
Then they redid the regulations several times until we get the lates "safety can that we have today.
It's an automatic spring closing cap that operates by pulling back on the carrying handle.
Except- that the ONLY way to secure it in a pick-up bed is to use that same handle to secure it to the bedrail.
THEN when someone drops a grill into the next lane over and you have to make sudden braking and evasion maneuvers from the car next to you ....
That same handle will spill diesel from the canted-over can.
Then we get into the aerodynamics of a pick-up with a closed tailgate and what it does with half a gallon of sloshing diesel.
Kurt, remember back when we were in the Service and there were those guys who always could break an anvil with a rubber mallet and eff up an iron ball with a feather duster? Well, the Services are smaller now so they now work in civilian agencies for the government.
ReplyDeleteYes. It always made it harder for the people who weren't rocks to actually get something done.
DeleteI had to hit my brakes and swerve to get away from someone else and that safety can was hanging by the "spillproof handle" for about ten minutes until I could find a good place to get off and put the can upright again.
Now I just cut the bottom out of a Gatorade bottle and dump the fuel in- trying not to spill too much on me...
F'in safety cans are a major pain in the arse! You can't handle them anymore without winding up soaked in gasoline. I wonder how many people they've killed.
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