Quote:
Originally Posted by 10023
American cities should really have curb side pumps like some European cities (notably Paris). But then American car manufacturers would have to put the tank opening on the correct (passenger) side.
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We used to, back in the early days of motoring. I always assumed they were eliminated for fire safety reasons. That was part of it, but it seems they were eliminated because they backed up traffic and offended the American's right to drive freely at high speed.
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It looks like even in Paris, most of the stations are American-style off-street stations with a canopy, just more compact and wedged between buildings. Or they're built into underground parking garages. A quick survey on Google Maps only shows a small number of those curbside pumps.
This one in the 6e has a sidewalk wide enough that they just carved a pumping area out of the sidewalk.
This one is on the service road of a boulevard, so it doesn't back up traffic on the main portion.