Gas Station Accident. Advice needed.
 

Keep it clean and on topic please.


I'm gonna keep it short and in note form.
- Mom used my car, went to fill up at the Chevron on Cambie and Garden City.
- Mom handed her credit card to the attendant.
- Attendant set up the pump and walked away.
- Mom was standing by the pump.
- Pump shot out, and my mom tried to stop it because the attendant was nowhere in sight.
- Mom was drenched with gas all over. Clothes, body, face, etc.
- Mom managed to stop the pump. Walked inside to complain.
- "The black guy"(only description I got) walked in soon after, and said it wasn't his fault.
- Brother in law got the names and phone number of the gas station employees. Gave mom a change of clothes.
- Came home. Was still charged for Gas.

What I'm wondering is, who's legally responsible for this accident?
I realize that at a Full Service gas station, my mom should've stayed inside the car and let the gas station attendants handle it.

Would the gas station be responsible for the dry cleaning, and any future medical? I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty sure being drenched in gas might cause some health issues.

My mom was able to stop the gas pump, had the time to compose herself and walk inside to complain. The attendant was nowhere to be found, and only walked inside afterwards to make excuses.


Can this be handled privately or should we get lawyers involved?
I'm on my way to meet my mom at the hospital right now, because she's complaining about the gas smell and a headache.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Was your mom charged for the spilled gas?

Get a lawyer and get ready to sue.

If she was drenched in gasoline, who knows how long she was inhaling the gas fumes.
The headache is a good indicator there was enough to affect her and we know sniffing gasoline can/will kill brain cells.

Might not see some indications right away, but long term it may affect her health.

Hope your mom is ok.

^this

Did she get any witness by any chance?
Wish you luck with everything & hope you're mom gets better soon!
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You are going over board here. As long as she changed her clothes and showered right away so stop irritation she will be fine. There will be no long term effect but best bet go to the doctor to find out.

Go back to the station and complain directly to the retailer and make a complaint and as for Chevron Canadas number to call as well.

don't most stations have CCTV's installed?

I think is a 50/50 here. Like you mentioned, the place is full-service, so your mom should of stayed in the car, or they could blame her for doing the service herself.

At the same time, is their fault for not having an attendant nearby.

i dont know jack about laws, so i dont know if its going to be any help.

but the first thing that went through my mind was to get a copy of the security tapes during the time of the incident. it may help to clarify on which party is responsible.

2-Health Effects of Gasoline : OSH Answers

pretty useful i guess

i dont think its 50/50 at all. Who would be stupid enough to stay in their car when flammable gas is spilling around them and no attendant in sight.

Good to know you are a doctor and we can come here for medical advice.

Oh wait...... :suspicious:

No but I know the petroleum industry for 11 years and know the effects of gasoline on the skin since I have taken Chevrons POST course and WHMIS as well. I'm also the head of the safety committee at my work which I have dealt with many gas/diesel/def spills as well as solvent. I have also built at least 3 dozen Chevron gas stations from the ground up and I'm on a first name basis with all Chevron Canada's engineers.

As long as she has a shower and wash's herself she will have a mild rash and irritation for a bit but she will be fine and she won't have any lasting effects.

Did she died?

Family has owned a gas station for 22 years. Unless the gas was ingested or went into her eye she will be fine. How does she regularly wash here clothes?

Just found out that the girl at the cash register made my mom stand outside in the cold. because she "smelled like gas"

What the fuck.
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But that's not what I said in my initial post.
Her clothes were drenched and she was also splashed in the face with gasoline. She may have ingested some of the fuel or entered her body through her eyes or nose. And now she has a headache which is a good indicator that she inhaled gasoline fumes.

the people at the tills are fucken idiots and don't have a clue. Just record all of the details for when you mom makes a complaint.

I did a quick google search for a MSDS sheet, and found a MSDS sheet for Chevron gas. It's the "premium gas" but it should be very similar to regular gas.

https://cglapps.chevron.com/msdspds/...cDataID=278879

the headache is the effect of the fumes which is normal and won't have any lasting side effects. She would of known it right away if she injected some since it tastes nasty and if she got some in her eyes there would of been a burning sensation and an ambulance would of had to of been called.

...wow, Chevron gas requires much less handling and is safer than just about everything I handle on a daily basis playing with airplanes. Geez, the MSDS sheets I usually look through....damn near everything is a hazard to the eyes. Amazing that "No specific first air required" for contact with the eyes.

I'd say get a lawyer and contact the owner /manager of the station through the lawyer and let them contact you directly to work Somthing out

I highly doubt it would be worth it to pay X amount to hire a lawyer on full time because not much will probably come of it

It's an unfortunate situation but if your gonna spend the next 2 years trying to get Somthing out of it it will be very trying and most likely fruitless, this isn't the states
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You think hiring a gas lawyer is worth the $100 she might win? Unless she gets really sick it's not worth it.

thats why i said it would probably be fruitless, so if you really want to persue anything just contact the owner/manager directly

Wtf, u likely cant sue successfully as she got out of car and that lead to her getting gas on her. Gas station has CCTV, won't hand it over, thus your word against theirs re: when and how gas was spilled

Sounds like ur mum is racist (re: gas station ethnicity/skin colour comment) - I have no sympathy for her

I really hate people - this kind of proves why, ignorant ppl who want to sue

also as for the argument that gas does damage etc. Filling up heavy machinery, snowmobiles, ATV's i've litterally spilled gallons of fuel all over myself, hands, etc. in the past and with a little soap and water it's gone, it's not that big of a deal and as far as i'm concerned gasoline and Diesel is far less corrosive/irritant than many other substances people come into contact

I would file a complaint first to chevron and the owner of the gas station. If the owner doesn't seem interested and just wanted you to screw off, then getting a lawyer, or contacting media is certainly not out of the question.

Go to a doctor if need be, but right now I would be more worried about the fact that how could something this dangerous happen in the first place.

The fact that the pump shot out and was spraying gas everywhere and the attendant failing to notice is a extremely HUGE issue. All it takes is a spark, careless smoker, or really hot car part to turn this incident into national news.


Just because the attendants and workers there are minimum wage doesn't make it okay to poorly handle a situation regarding highly flammable and irritant substances.

Just to let you know Chevron Canada owns the station and the person that runs the site is just the retailer who runs the station. Best bet would be to go in and chat directly with the retailer and if you do not like that response ask for the corporate phone number which you can file a verbal complaint.
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