What Causes Car Fires? - Victoria Automobile Wreck Lawyers
We have all seen cars bursting into flames in action movies. In movies two cars often collide or fall into a ditch upside down and explode. Fortunately, in real life, cars do not catch fire very often.
People think that the burning and exploding of a car are the same thing. However, there is a difference between the two. Generally, people are under the impression that the gas tank is the main culprit when it comes to car fires. However, the gas tank is there all the time in the car and it does not explode.
Actually, the vehicle explodes only under certain circumstances. The car engine works when liquid gasoline is converted into gas and a small flame ignites the gas and oxygen feeds the flame. After a car crash, if these three things are combined in the right place and order outside the engine, the car explodes.
Until the gas is within the gas tank there are fewer chances that sufficient oxygen can combine with it and cause an explosion.
When there is a crash the gas tank and the exhaust tubes may be hit by rocks, chunks of metal, or road debris which may make a hole in them. This may lead to gas leakage. Then a number of things can produce sufficient heat to ignite it.
Modern vehicles have become more electronic in nature. So there are more electrical wires. If there is a tear in a wire an electrical spark may be created. This may come in contact with the gas fumes and cause havoc.
Many times, when people see a vehicle engulfed in flames they attribute it to the explosion of the gas tank. But in reality, some component of the car could have caught fire and the flame would have increased by leaps and bounds leading to the disaster.
According to the latest trends and stipulated standards, flame retardant materials are used in the passenger cabins of the car. However, flame retardant materials are not totally resistant to fire. They just catch fire with difficulty. If they get ignited they burn intensely. Besides this, materials like foam and plastic are used in cars. They can burn very easily. Once a flame is stirred up they all catch fire and turn the vehicle into a huge ball of flame, giving an impression of a car explosion to onlookers.
Accidents are beyond human control. They can occur at any time in any place. Knowledge is power. A knowledge of the basic reasons for an explosion or burning of the car can be helpful to avoid such accidents to some extent. It may be useful to reduce the severity of an accident.
If you have been in an accident, seek help from an experienced Victoria car accident lawyer. Call your local lawyer for a free case evaluation.