Surprising reasons why cars can catch fire on the road

The main causes of car fires are commonly known to be electrical short circuits (possibly caused by rats biting wires), using dirty fuel, or running out of coolant... But besides that, there are also many other reasons that drivers need to pay attention to.

There are many reasons that can cause a car to burn down. Illustration: Hung Tho

Lack of regular maintenance

Failure to maintain your vehicle regularly or continually delaying taking it to a repair shop for routine inspections can result in faulty wiring, leaking gaskets, and other parts that can shorten the life of your vehicle or cause it to catch fire. Faulty wiring can spark, and can start a fire if it comes into contact with flammable materials.

In addition, in the internal combustion engine of a car, there is a head gasket that provides a seal between the engine block and the cylinder head to seal the combustion gases inside the cylinder and prevent coolant or engine oil from leaking into the cylinder. Therefore, if not regularly checked, leaks in this part can cause the engine to operate poorly and overheat, causing a fire.

Design error

A design flaw in a car won’t cause it to catch fire, but it could create conditions that could lead to a fire. Most car manufacturers discover these issues when they test their products. However, there have been cases where well-known brands have had to recall cars to fix the fire risk.

Engine overheating

An overheating engine will not cause the vehicle to catch fire immediately, but it will cause the volume of fluids such as coolant and oil to increase rapidly and gradually overflow or leak out of the holding area.

When these fluids come into contact with other hot parts of the car, they can easily catch fire and spread quickly. The cause of engine overheating is a malfunctioning radiator or a leaking gasket or seal.

When a car crash occurs

At the time of the collision, fuel may leak, increasing the risk of fire or explosion. Fuel leaks are the most common cause of car fires. Different fluids in cars are corrosive and flammable.

Of all liquids, gasoline is the most dangerous, as it can easily catch fire from a spark. Therefore, gasoline coming into contact with other hot metal surfaces in a car can cause a fire that spreads at high speed.

Therefore, drivers need to prevent this by maintaining their vehicles regularly. In particular, if they smell gasoline around or in their car, they need to turn off the engine immediately while driving, find the leak promptly and fix it.

Electric car battery puncture

The batteries used in electric cars work just like any other battery, they tend to catch fire when punctured. So if an electric car is driving at top speed and hits a small object that punctures the battery, the car could catch fire.