Is it possible for someone to blow up your car by putting a match in the gas tank?

Question

A friend of mine is deathly afraid of somebody lighting a match and putting it in her gas tank while shes in the car and then having her gas tank make the car explode while she's in it. For some reason I'm having doubts as to if that would actually have a chance of happening since you would probably be able to take off before someone could take the cap off of your car, light a match and put it in without it going out. Is there some sort of sideways path the gas has to travel before it gets to the tank itself to keep foreign objects out?

Answer 1

There is a oneway valve at the top of the filler neck.  Match wont go in without some serious effort.

Answer 2

It is not the gas you must worry about. It is the fumes that are explosive. If someone did put a match near the tank opening, and the tank was half full, the person that lit the match would be as dead as your friend.

If you light a match and put it to a puddle of gas on the ground, it will light, but not blow up. You take the same match, and put it near the opening of a gallon jug of gas half full, it will explode, and cover you with burning gasoline. The vapors are explosive, not the fuel itself.

Answer 3

dude thats real dangerous .

Answer 4

The match won't make it to the tank, as stated, however, the fumes from the tank would most likely ignite instantly, which would set your car on fire. Within minutes, the tank would probably explode. However, on that particular car, i do believe the gas door is latched, and must be released from inside the car. Also, tell your friend to go and buy a locking gas cap, which would ultimately prevent this, and gas theft.

Answer 5

what your friend needs to understand is that there is a specific mixture of gas, air and spark to make this happen.  with todays fuel tank construction, is it near impossible.  the mixture has to be just right or nothing will happen, the same as the myth of getting in and out of your car while pumping gas can cause static electricity and ignite the gas your pumping.  not saying it cant happen, but the odds are millions to one.  as one person wrote, the fumes are more likely to ignite and cook the culprit as well as the car and all in it.  I have proved this a few times by putting a burning coal, which burns hotter than a match, out in a bucket of gasoline.  why did this happen? because the fuel air mixture was not in proportion to the amount heat needed to ignitethe mixture.  BTW, gasoline engines work on this principal.  Ive also done the same thing with diesel fuel, which has a higher flashpoint than gasoline, and kerosene, which to my shegrin, has a low flashpoint  ( no one got hurt, but i wont ever do THATagain).  I dont know either of you, but please tell you friend from me that if she is serious about this fear, that there are medications out there for people with her issues.

Answer 6

I have never heard of anyone being afraid of something like that, but it falls in line perfectly with my 10,000 irrational fears... even after reading everyone else's response about it being nigh impossible, I'm still going to be slightly worried about it.

I'm terrified of someone hiding in either the backseat of my car or underneath it and slicing my Achilles tendons, then murdering me... I'm also deathly afraid of my tires being slashed, fuel line being severed, or someone putting sugar in my gas tank.

...I don't trust people...