Running out of petrol

[jmh740]

So after a discussion with Oh yesterday can I ask how many times you have ever run out of petrol and how many years you have been driving.

Person A run out once in 25 years of driving.

Person B run out 4 times in 30 years of driving.

Person A thinks B is irresponsible and most people have never run out. Person B thinks 4 times in 30 years is not much.

I want one, to hang round my neck!

Several times as a kid playing fuel light bingo but not in the last 25 years. Best time was about 200m from a petrol station, just kept it rolling and coasted on in to the pump.

Almost 50 years of driving and I've never run out, although I came close once.

Fifty years in August, I suppose that means 49 years 6 months. Never run out of petrol. I suppose it will happen now I've said that.

I have been driving over 40 years. Never run out. DH has run out twice in 45 years, both years ago when under time pressure and very young.

once
new (to me) car
light lit up and motor spluttered and went out almost immediately

18 years since I passed my test, never ran out of petrol.

32 years driving and have never run out. I almost did once because they had run out of diesel at the garage and the next available one was many miles away, but I made it. Just.

Never in 34 years, although I once had to stop driving and park up and ask DH to come out with some fuel before I actually did run out. I'd hit very lost taking the car to a Cattery we'd not used before. Sat Nav kept trying to send me though private parkland/estate with big signs on saying "This is not a public road", and also directed me to petrol station that had closed down.

I have never run out of petrol in 27 years. I think running out 4 times is weird. You'd learn after the first...

around 30 years. Ran out once on purpose and had a full can in the car....the reason being that I thought I wasn't getting the mpg that I should and the mpg mystery was solved by working out that the tank voloume as in american gallons and the MPG info was in UK gallons.

I'm the scattiest person in the world and have never run out in 25 years of driving. Had a few near misses though! Never had a speeding tickets/points either.

Dh who has been driving for 35 years has ran out of petrol 3 times and has twice put the wrong petrol in the car leading to it having to be towed and drained. He's also had several speeding tickets and points which led to a six month ban. This was a few years ago and he does seem to have learnt his lesson and is very careful now.

40 years here. Never, but then I mostly used the car at the weekends as a full time commuter (by train).

18 years and ran out once. I was quite young- I can’t imagine it would happen again!

Once in 45 years of driving; turns out the car was faulty.

Only once in 30 years, and that was only because our new to us/but second hand car fuel gauge didn't work properly.

Never, 10 years

42 years: never
DH 45 years: never

Do you expect your DH to fill up the car for you? My sister does this and I think it’s a risky strategy!

I used to drive an old 1950’s VW years ago that had no petrol gauge so I used to write down my mileage in a little notebook and ran on fumes a few times but in over 40yrs, I’ve never actually run out of petrol. 🤞

Surely, you check the fuel gauge before you set off for every journey?

That’s what I was taught to do when I was learning to drive, same as putting on your seat belt. If not, you need to incorporate it into your routine.

Driving 33 years, ran out just once. The car was parked on a steep hill which I was told later could have exacerbated the effect of a pretty low fuel tank.

Never. My ex taught me how to gauge how many miles I had after the light comes on, and my dad always insisted on filling up before it hit 1/4 tank, so I always avoid going too low.

In the 90's I was a penniless single mum driving an ancient battered Vauxhall Nova with a broken petrol gauge. (They were notorious for this problem!) I had a notebook to keep meticulous track of mileage and fill ups. Both of my jobs involved driving - pizza delivery and house cleaning. So I was careful and only ran out twice. Luckily both times in summer and around town so we could walk to the petrol station.

Since my circumstances improved I rarely go below half - and Never below quarter tank - as nowadays I drive long distances where there can be random lengthy jams. I hate the anxiety of possibly running out!

31 years/never. Came close in a rugged desert where petrol stations were days apart, but so far so good in the UK.

Run all the way out as in the car won’t run anymore? Never.

I remember it happening once when I was a child in the 70s. The gas in the car was low. My mother wasn’t planning to need to pick me up that day. I was up at the town fair in a quasi-supervised activity and one of the other children died in a horrific accident. They had to go around town like a village cryer announcing that a child had died and the parents needed to go find their children. I’m told they did locate the deceased child’s parents first and tell them quietly. My mother had to go get her car unplanned to retrieve me and then there was of course what constituted a traffic jam for our area and her car died.

that is the kind of scenario where cars run out of gas. There is a gauge right on the dash. Plus modern cars will remind you repeatedly and some will even direct you to the nearest station.

Over 50 years never run out.