A friend was driving her car a few weeks ago and noticed smoke coming out from under the hood when they stopped at a light. She grabbed her little girl out of the back seat and got out of the car and it literally burst into flames before she was more than a few feet away from it. If she hadn’t gotten out immediately, they would both have been dead by then.
It can happen. Someone told me that it’s not the gas, but the brake fluid that catches fire if there’s a fire in the engine. It can travel to the gas tank, but the part of the fire that engulfs the passenger compartment from the engine doesn’t come from the gas tank initially. Pretty scary. The taxi driver is lucky!
I remember seeing maybe 10-12 years ago a car in Pennsylvania on the shoulder beside the Interstate. A fellow was standing a few yards in front of it facing it in a suit and tie. Hi arms were folded and he did not look happy. It was all in flames. Traffic was just whizzing by like this is a normal part of the scenery. I did see a police helicopter headed that direction a few seconds later.