Of course you can walk away from a gas car while it's filling. Where'd you get that idea?
Plus it just seems like a stupid idea given that I have far less than 100% confidence in automatic cutoffs especially given the potentially serious consequences of a failure.
I have to say I've never seen such a sign. Admittedly I don't read every sign on the pump so who knows.
I nearly always walk inside to the store while the tank fills.
Also, people often start the pump and get back into the car while it fills. When it’s full, they get out of the vehicle which generates static electricity (often in winter months where it’s dry and wool or other clothing increases this) and has the risk of discharging on the handle, sparking a fire.
An excellent example of a point with no actual statistics behind it.
It's a jobs program, not a safety program.
Fact is, this practice is universal, at least in the US where latches are provided on the pump handles.
Fact is, 99.99999% of the time, it's fine.
Of course, it should go without saying that nobody should walk away from the pump for much longer than it takes to fill the tank, if only because it's a douchy move to tie up a gas pump for longer than you need it. But if shutoff failures were anywhere near as common as you seem to think, the latches would be prohibited everywhere.
Lung cancer is extremely rare, regardless of your risk factors. Yet people are still told not to smoke because of the risk increase over it.
A temporary oversight, I'm sure.
It would be a pain for a 16 year old to be able to drive but not to dispense fuel.