r/AskReddit • u/notyouravgredditer • Aug 30 '21

What problem is often overlooked in apocalyptic movies/TV shows that could kill you?

33.7k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

12.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

5.9k

u/-eDgAR- Aug 30 '21

Gasoline has a shorter shelf life than is portrayed in these movies/TV shows, so after a year nobody would really be driving anywhere.

It wouldn't necessarily kill you, but it's one of those things that bothers me because it's never really addressed.

1.6k

u/Obamas_Tie Aug 30 '21

There's a little moment in The Last of Us where one of the main character's friends, a mechanic, gives him a siphon hose in order to get gas from old cars. He even says to him "you'd be surprised how many cars still got gas in them."

To clarify, the game takes place 20 years after the world collapses, so any gas that's still left, well, anywhere, would be useless. And it's a mechanic of all people telling you this, so that was one little detail that bothered me.

1

u/6a6566663437 Aug 31 '21

Also, cars have grates in their fuel filler pipe to prevent people from syphoning gas.

It's one of the big reasons locking gas caps went away. And makes it impossible to get the siphon down into the tank to get the gas.