That Petrol Emotion

I guess the new professionalism has taken hold of British officers too.

[P]olice officers put 26 patrol cars out of action after filling them with the wrong fuel. Officers in North Wales admitted to using nearly £3,000 of taxpayers' money to get the cars fixed after filling the diesel engines with petrol. Regardless of the newly added bright yellow 'diesel' tags on the tank caps, officers still managed to use the wrong pumps. A spokesman said: "To insert the fuel nozzle, the flap must be physically moved which should bring the fuel type to the drivers' attention."

To prevent future mishaps, the patrol cars are being altered so that six-year-olds — and those with approximately the same brain capacity — can service them.

Some police vehicles are now being fitted with talking warnings to remind officers which fuel to use.

Earlier,

[A]n Essex force was left with a £42,000 bill for damages caused by mis-fuelling.

Maybe electric cars can offer respite in the future, though I'm pretty sure these public servants will just be wondering where to put the double-A alkalines.

Comments

[smurfy]

Don't underestimate how easy it is to do this. I'm pretty sure that's what killed my fuel pump. It only cost me about $500 to fix the problem, but 5 years later i still have 10 gallons of diesel/petrol mix that i can't get rid of for a reasonable price. They should make diesel pumps with a square nozzle or something.