[DGthe3]

A shorted out 12V system can still spark & cause fires. It happens all the time. Sure, 12 volts can't arc quite as far as 300, but the danger is still there. Each year there are something like 65,000 vehicle fires in the United States that can be attributed to failures of the electrical system (mechanical failures are responsible for about twice that number, for comparison purposes). If I had to guess, I'd say that something on the order of 99.9% of these are conventional vehicles with a 12V electrical system.