Main crash concern transporting Scuba tanks?

[Schwob]

So, what is the main crash concern transporting scuba tanks?
How about between just those two options:

A.) Some seem to lean towards that being a large unsecured or insufficiently secured mass continuing forward at vehicle speed, crashing through rear seats or partitions and doing damage to participants, including front seat occupants.

B.) Others seem to worry more about a valve being sherrd off so completely that the tank could become a destructive missile.

I tend to lean a lot more towards A., but I am unaware of any actual such cases (involving scuba tanks ... other heavy cargo, tool box or such ... sure) and on balance I do not know which "damage mode" is more likly in reality.

Does your "main concern" affect the way you secure your tanks?
In Crash, A Full Trunk Is Trouble

What is your MAIN concern (in that regard)? Why?

 

[Kevrumbo]

Mostly "A" for me in a Scion xB.

Semi "B" on occasion when the tank valve inadvertently gets rolled "on" when the cylinder shifts during hard evasive turns or jam on the brakes quick stop.

 

[CuzzA]

Both scenarios are plausible. I would lean toward option A being the most likely to cause serious injury or death. Especially rolling over an SUV and cylinders flying throughout the cabin.

Of course the odds are low, but picking up some ratchet straps and tie down the cylinders would solve both potential issues. Admittedly, I just lay them in the back of my truck unsecured. I should probably change that practice.

 

[tbone1004]

B is highly unlikely. They can move around if the valves get rolled on, but it's not going to go off like a missile.

A is the real concern. I got sideswiped when I was in Maine and an AL30 took out one of the rear windows and was found like 30ft from the vehicle....

 

[Diver0001]

So, what is the main crash concern transporting scuba tanks?
How about between just those two options:

A.) Some seem to lean towards that being a large unsecured or insufficiently secured mass continuing forward at vehicle speed, crashing through rear seats or partitions and doing damage to participants, including front seat occupants.

B.) Others seem to worry more about a valve being sherrd off so completely that the tank could become a destructive missile.

I tend to lean a lot more towards A., but I am unaware of any actual such cases (involving scuba tanks ... other heavy cargo, tool box or such ... sure) and on balance I do not know which "damage mode" is more likly in reality.

Does your "main concern" affect the way you secure your tanks?
In Crash, A Full Trunk Is Trouble

What is your MAIN concern (in that regard)? Why?

I've been involved in A.

re A: I was driving back from a dive with my buddy. In the back of the car there were 7 scuba tanks. 2x twin sets, 2x stages and 1x cylinder of oxygen for contingency. We stopped at the back of a traffic jam. The car behind us also stopped. The car behind THEM, however didn't not only stop.... he didn't even attempt to slow down and rammed the car behind us going somewhere between 80 and 100km/h.

The car behind us got ... "LAUNCHED" from the impact and nearly ended up the back seat of my car. To make a long story short, all the gear shifted but nothing was damaged.

This result was replicated by the guys from the shop who got rammed from behind at 100km/h by another car. They had 15 tanks in the back of the car and nothing was damaged.

R..

 

[txgoose]

For a crash, I am mainly concerned with heavy things flying around, breaking each other and breaking other stuff (A). As for my concern of valves (B), I am more interested in preserving the tanks' integrity through a minor fender bender. I am not really fearful of an air propelled missile. I figure that if we get to "missile" state, the wreck was probably big enough that the forces of acceleration from the impact are hundreds if not thousands of times greater than the momentum of an air powered tank.

 

[kelemvor]

There's at least two stories somewhere on scubaboard of first hand reports that debunk B for the most part. If memory serves, one of the incidents was a cave diver with overfilled tanks that fell off the back of his pickemup truck. The other was some kind of scuba tank delivery truck in cozumel with hundreds of full tanks got into a serious accident. The tanks flew everywhere, all over the road. None sheared off the valve and became a missile. I think there's a photo or maybe even video of the Coz crash. That went a long way to comfort me when I was having concerns about transporting my growing personal fleet of compressed gas.

 

[glennster]

the department of transportation has specific rules regarding the transportation of high pressure cylinders. they must be secured. they cannot be in an enclosed vehicle. they must be able to discharge directly in the atmosphere.( read in an open truck). check your federal and state regulations regarding transportation.

 

[CuzzA]

I figure that if we get to "missile" state, the wreck was probably big enough that the forces of acceleration from the impact are hundreds if not thousands of times greater than the momentum of an air powered tank.

Good point. In other words, you're probably toast.

 

[Diver0001]

For a crash, I am mainly concerned with heavy things flying around,.

I'm going to say that if "heavy things are flying around" that you're probably dead.

R..