Why Do I Keep Seeing People In Davenport Smoke At The Pump?!

I've been living in the Quad Cities for a while now, and I've lived in a handful of different areas over my life, and have officially decided the QC is the most hardcore. To be more specific, Davenport. I've seen some of the wildest things in my life in this city, but one little thing that keeps happening is people smoking while pumping gas.

I know this is anecdotal, but I've seen it happen almost ten times now, and I feel like I'm missing something. Isn't this like the number one thing you're not supposed to do at a gas pump? Am I the crazy one here?

Why Am I Writing This?

Yesterday while I was stopped at a light I looked over and I saw another person smoking at the pump, but this man had a cigar. I guess if you're going to risk it all, it should be in style. I wanted to get a picture, but we made eye contact, and this guy stared me down.

It's like he knew what he was doing was sketchy but he didn't care, and he wanted me to know that, but also stop me from getting any evidence. Needless to say, when the light turned green I just drove away.

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Is It Really That Bad Though?

According to Erie Insurance,

The American Petroleum Institute, the Petroleum Equipment Institute and safety officials across the country agree that you shouldn’t smoke while you’re pumping gas.

There are multiple reasons that smoking at the pump is dangerous. From what I have seen there are actually multiple ways smoking at the pump can hurt you,

The primary danger at the pump is not the gas itself but the gas vapors. Because these vapors are heavier than air, they can combust if they come into contact with anything flammable such as a smoldering cigarette butt, hot pavement or even a static spark. These can all turn into a very dangerous recipe for disaster.

Why Does It Happen?

I think this question has a simple answer, a lot of people just don't care, or have no reason to care. They will smoke where they want, and do what they want when they want.

Personally, I'll probably avoid a station where someone is smoking, but hey who am I to judge? To them, I could be overreacting by being worried. Here's hoping no one gets hurt, and we all stay safe.