Your car will not blow up - JGRA rubbishes circulating message

President of The Jamaica Gasolene Retailers Association (JGRA) Phillip Chung is declaring that a message that has been circulating on social media warning persons not to fill up their gas tanks as it may cause their vehicles to explode due to extreme temperature is completely false.

Chung said he became aware of the message with the JGRA's letterhead about three weeks ago.

"It is not authentic, it has absolutely no truth to what it claims," he said.

Chung said it is near impossible for an explosion to take place.

"All gas tanks in all automobiles have a vent, so it prevents the tank from expanding so the integrity of the tank will remain intact," he explained. "For combustion to take place in a sealed vessel, it needs oxygen as the third part of the combustibility process for it to combust; oxygen is not present in anybody's gas tank unless it is wilfully induced."

FILLING UP IS OK

"As a friendly reminder to our customers, the fit and proper way to is to have your tank filled and when the nozzle clicks, just round it off for change purposes," he said.

However, he advised motorists not to overfill their tanks as it will block the vent.

He said research that was done in Texas proved that high temperatures could not cause a vehicle to explode.

"Internationally, when that (filling the tank) is done under extreme temperature ... a little bit of it seeps out of the tank cover and that was it," he said.

But he said because the gas tanks are vented and not sealed, "if there is expansion, the tanks will not be pressurised. So categorically that article is rubbish and it is not a product of the JGRA".