"BLIND" DRIVERS. Every day I dodge drivers lost in another dimension or paying attention to the wrong things. The amount of destructive energy in a car rolling down the road is astonishing- few people understand just how much. If your attention wanders and your car strikes an object, like another car, the energy instantly turns the two cars into potato mashers in search of "potatoes". If they miss, you and your passengers will continue forward at high speed until you are mashed into the windshield or other HARD object, most inconsiderately. Utah drivers as some of the worst. Sudden, illogical moves,"wandering" across lanes, not paying attention to how they affect other cars, are problems common to Utahans. I too often see drivers drive miles at night with their lights off; they get home safely but others get hurt avoiding them! Don't they notice the dashboard is PITCH BLACK!!!?? First prize goes to those who wait until you almost reach their car, madly dash in front of you at high speed and then SLOW DOWN!! AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!! Oh..oooH!....screeeeccchhh!...crash!!... see, I was so busy ranting, I forgot to watch where I was going! I need a doctor......or, a mortician.....

What you should also consider when discussing hydrogen safety in the context of the Hindenburg disaster is that investigation concluded that it was in fact the coating on the canvas that was the main catalyst for the fire as it contained a derivative of rocket fuel. The hindenburg was also advised not to land in the unstable atmosphere (static from brewing storms), which was thought to create the initial spark.

Regarding hydrogen's safety, the DOE and Ford conducted an investigation in 1994 comparing the safety of hydrogen cars and petrol cars andf found the hydrogen cars to be safer than petrol. This is largely due to the fact that hydrogen escapes and disaptes into the atnmosphere very quickly, whereas the petrol sticks around and burns for longer.

According to BOC (part of the Linde Group) hydrogen has the best safety record of all industrial gases.

Hydrogen like any fuel is flamable, but is only explosive when equally distributed within a confined spacxe at a specifc concentraion (sorry I don't have the exact figure to hand but i think it is around 12%)

It is a common myth that hydrogen caused the Hindenburg disaster, when in fact the covering of the zepplin was coated with rocket fuel.

It's also a common myth that hydrogen is unsafe. While hydrogen is a flammable gas, it is used very safely every day just like other fuels we use. You know, the U.S. alone uses 10 million tons of hydrogen every year and makes thousands of safe deliveries of the lightweight gas. Hydrogen vehicles have been crash tested and hydrogen tanks are all drop tested, bonfire tested and even shot with bullets to make sure they are safe for everyone to use.

If you would like to know about hydrogen safety, please view our hydrogen safety fact sheet online at:
HydrogenAssociation (dot) org