Compressed natural gas vehicle safety system and method

A vehicle safety system for disabling a vehicle during fueling, wherein the vehicle is powered by compressed or liquefied fuel supplied to the vehicle through a fuel fill hose, and the vehicle has an ignition and transmission, the vehicle safety system comprising:

• a pressurized fuel supply tank carrying the compressed or liquefied fuel and located external to the vehicle, and a pressurized fuel receiving tank located within the vehicle;
• a break-away fitting attached to the fuel fill hose, the fuel fill hose in communication with the pressurized fuel receiving tank and being coupled to the pressurized fuel supply tank during fueling of the vehicle the one or more break-away fittings configured to allow separation of the fuel fill hose from the pressurized fuel supply tank in case of an unexpected vehicle pull-away;
• a proximity sensor adapted to sense a presence of the fuel fill hose in proximity to the pressurized fuel receiving tank, the proximity sensor in communication with a logic circuit;
• the logic circuit adapted to produce a safe electrical signal indicating a safe condition when the fuel fill hose is not in proximity to the pressurized fuel receiving tank;
• a lockout circuit adapted to disable the vehicle when the safe electrical signal is absent;
• and
• a manual override controlled by human intervention and overriding the logic circuit to produce the safe electrical signal when activated.