atmospheric pressure at elevations of 8000 feet averages about 0.72 atmospheres. Would a cabin pressurized at 500 mm hg meet federal standards

Yes, but it must be kept at that value and do not let it to decrease more.

Explanation:

Hello.

In this case, in order to substantiate whether the cabin meet the federal standards, we need to convert the 500 mmHg to atm and compare the result with 0.72 atm by knowing that 1 atm equals 760 mmHg:

Thus, since 0.66 atm is 0.06 atm away from the federal standard we can infer that it may meet the federal standard, however, it would not be recommended to let the pressure decrease more than that.

away from the curb

explanation:

the wheels would then hit the curb if it started to rolling, decreasing the chance of an accident.