carbon monoxide?
Posted by SeverePart8362@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 44 comments
So i’m going on a trip to flordia soon and we are driving i think my mom is gonna pull over to sleep for while at a rest stop im worried about getting posioning what is the possibility of this happening? i have bad anxiety as it is and i can’t get this out of my head she has a 2021 volts wagon tiguan its fairly new someone help!
Gunk_Olgidar@reddit
Don't run the engine while sleeping.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
ok!
SameAd2686@reddit
I slept in my car several times driving alone back & forth to Florida & had no problems. I slept in rest areas close to the bathrooms or near 18 wheelers. I just locked my car doors…packed blanket & pillows. Catching sleep is more important so there’s no drowsy driving
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
true!
Cheeko914@reddit
If we can work for hours in a small shop with exhaust fumes from starting & stopping cars with all the bay doors closed and be fine, then you’ll be perfectly fine.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
thank you!
smthngeneric@reddit
Unless it's running with a hose going from the exhaust into the car it'll be fine. If you're that paranoid crack a window. Id worry about other things before that.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
thanks
RevoZ89@reddit
Yeah you are tripping. There will be 0% CO.
Of you are that worried, crack a window. Not even necessary.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
thank you!
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
Last and only time I’ve heard of someone dying from CO in a car was in high school a kid went to pickup his girlfriend after work and parked next to the building and was overcome as he waited. This was 40+ years ago and his car was old. Cars have come a long way since then and burn much cleaner!
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
thank you!
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
No need to worry! Outside, and new cars produce very little CO. Sleep well, she’ll be fine.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
thx u!
DankBlunderwood@reddit
CO poisoning would only happen in an enclosed space with no ventilation with the engine running. Rest stops are usually open air, there's nothing to worry about.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
thx!
Rlchv70@reddit
Modern cars, once warmed up, produce virtually zero carbon monoxide out the exhaust. The catalytic converter converts it to carbon dioxide.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
oh ok! thanks a lot
endsonee@reddit
Although what the previous poster mentioned about the catalytic converter, carbon dioxide is also fatal.
Realistically the safest level of exhaust gas is ZERO.
Rlchv70@reddit
But carbon dioxide is not the silent killer that carbon monoxide is. Excess carbon dioxide creates a burning and suffocating feeling. Also, carbon monoxide is harder to expel from the bloodstream, so you recover faster after exposure to excess carbon dioxide than CO.
I’m not sure why I’m being downvoted for telling the truth. Reddit is stupid sometimes.
Practical_Ride_8344@reddit
Find a 24x7 gas station. Tell the attendant you need a few hours rest and ask where to park. Good luck
Successful_Cress6639@reddit
Unless there's somethi g wrong with your car, you're way more likely to get carbon dioxide poisoning on a long trip.
ItsMsRainny@reddit
Literally not something that can even happen unless the cars running in a closed garage or something.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
i heard u could but ok
NH_OPERATOR@reddit
I slept in my car for 3 nights in a row in vermont in the middle of the winter, car off window cracked. I did have the plastic rain guards though. Still had to ice scrape the inside of my windows in the morning lol
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
lol wow
NH_OPERATOR@reddit
Hotels were expensive and I was but a poor ski bum trying to ski every mountain in the northeast in one season. Got 31 of them if I recall correctly.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
wow that’s crazy! hotels are crazy expensive now days
NH_OPERATOR@reddit
I mean even back in 2011 when I was doing this the cheap hotels were too much for a ski bum. I could only afford the lift tickets because I was a ski instructor. Most mountains in New England give full time employees of other mountains free lift tickets, or at least 50% off.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
yeah i mean i don’t blame you i probably would’ve slept in my car too then lmao
KeeganY_SR-UVB76@reddit
I live in Vermont. Just two weeks ago I was preparing my car for a trip across NH. I left the window open so I wouldn’t lock myself out while working on it.
It froze and rained that night. My whole seat was covered in sleet. That sucked.
mrsroperscaftan@reddit
I think there’s more safety issues sleeping at a rest stop than carbon monoxide to be concerned about. As a female, I wouldn’t do it.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
sleep at a rest stop ?
mrsroperscaftan@reddit
That’s what OP says regarding their concerns with their mom.
reidft@reddit
Just shut the car off and there's literally zero risk. People say that leaving it running is safe, and my coworker leaves the van running during lunch breaks while he naps in the back, but I wouldn't.
I've had CO poisoning from car exhaust twice in my life (once as a kid, hospitalized, once as an adult, thugged it out on the ground after stopping) and even carry two CO detectors in my classic car. Trust me when I say that I'm 10/10 paranoid when it comes to CO poisoning, and even I'll take a nap in the car on trips (turned off)
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
ok thank you
starstablesnacks@reddit
I was listening to a story the other day of a woman who's brother died of this when he backed just barely into a dirt pile that blocked the tail pipe. As long as the exhaust is completely unobstructed by walls, dirt piles, snow, etc, everything should be fine
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
thank you
poutine-eh@reddit
This must be an AI generated. Are you going to park in a closed space and run a pipe from the exhaust to the cabin? travelling from where??? Why you even need to run the engine all night long??? You in the Yukon?
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
lol not ai it was a genuine question
SaoirseMayes@reddit
Basically impossible, you'd notice if it was leaking
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
ok
ProJoe@reddit
Its fine, relax.
SeverePart8362@reddit (OP)
thanks