AndL

A friend of mine was stopped a couple of days ago by Trafico. THey checked his documents and then noticed a butano bottle on the back seat of the car. He was informed that it is illegal to carry gas without a permit and it would have to confiscated!! Whene he informed the officer that it was empty he was told to go but not to carry a bottle in future. Thisis despite not wearing a seatbelt and being on his way to the ITV at the time as his was out of date.

This all sounds very odd to me but has raised the question of gas bottles?? As far as I knew you could carry up to 3 as long as they are in the boot? Anyone else any ideas?

Rosemary

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amideislas

It's normal. Just looking for something to fine you for. But I don't believe there is any fine for carrying a gas bottle, but it makes for a good threat.

Surprised they didn't get him for seatbelt or ITV.. but maybe it was too much work.

Just this sunday, a friend of mine was stopped and searched and they found he was missing a light bulb in the spare set you are required to carry. €40 fine.

snikpoh

I think you'll find that there IS a limit on the number of bottles that can be carried at any one time.

I'm sure someone else will know the exact number but I seem to recall that it was 3

Rosemary

It is no longer necessary to carry a spare set of light bulbs because so many cars need specialised equipment in order to change them.

Rosemary

bobd22

Good point re light bulbs in most cases these days they are a nightmare to change. As for gas bottles main point may be that the friend had them on the back seat (per post 1) not in the boot. I do collect one every now and again myself in the boot and often wondered what official situation was. My problem is only visit short term at the minute and only use gas for fire so have one bottle, which is never empty when the gas man comes to the village. I must get myself a spare bottle then problem solved plus they are a pain to cart up from the car gas man stops much closer.

angiescarr

Thanks for that Rosemary. I had my spare set but in n ironic twist the headlight one got crushed by my Butane bottle!

amideislas

Well, typical Trafico. It also isn't neccessary to have some sort of a unknown permit to carry one empty gas bottle, but that was apparently more important to them than his ITV and no seat belt.

Again surprised no fine levied.

VFR

They were lucky that Traffico never fined them as to carry a butano bottle on the back seat of a car is plain stupid (empty or not) and no you cannot securely fasten it in via the seat belt.
They should be carried in the boot/rear of an estate against the rear bulkhead & retained by at least a couple of good quality/strong bungee straps.

Rosemary

I cannot physically lift a gas bottle into or out of the boot so have to carry it on the floor of the front passenger seat. It is jammed there tightly and cannot move so I hope that this would be OK.

Rosemary

fionamw

If I put mine in the capota(covered back of my pickup) it would - without significant strapping - be a danger to me and anyone around. Where I choose to sit it is on the back seat, snugly strapped in with a seatbelt!

amideislas

Two weeks ago, I watched a program on TV where some death-wish morons were trying to determine how to get a butane tank to explode.

They tried all kinds of crazy methods, from dropping a car from a crane on one, to throwing it off of a 4-story building.

Strangely, virtually nothing they could do seemed to be able to trigger an explosion.

Just yesterday, we were at the local Repsol gas depot to trade empty bottles for full ones - and the attendant literally dropped two full bottles from the top rack. As you might expect, nothing happened.

Somehow I feel compelled to believe that whether it's in the back seat, or in the boot, strapped in or not, the chances of an explosion are pretty limited.

megmet

I think you will find that you are no longer required by law to carry spare bulbs, the reason being that in modern cars they are sealed units and are therefor inaccessible to Joe public.


Sorry.....didn't read the posts above before writing this......

As for gas bottles it's not just the danger of explosion that's a problem, in case of an accident an unrestrained bottle flying around a car is a lethal weapon!
If we need to carry ours in the back of our estate car it's always tied in securely with at least two straps.

VFR

Yes that is the reason as a bottle is quite difficult to restrain due to its shape (and weight if full) and will easily break free from a seat belt in an accident.

Rosemary asked if its ok to pop one behind the seat jammed down into the footwell ?
Well this is much better & I doubt that a local guardia would have an issue if going a short distance and she explained the reason. (?)

fionamw

Well that's worrying. Does this mean seat belts won't restrain a human body of the same or similar weight?