2007-01-27 20:00:56 · 25 answers · asked by ejenki2 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Safety
There is a show in the USA called "Myth Busters" They had this same question from a viewer. Her Question was, "Why did they ban cell phone use at gas stations"? Who ever made this rule was concerned about sparking the fuel while you were pumping. The "MYTH BUSTER" team had alot of experiments with this myth. They tried absolutely ever thing they could to start a fire with the cell phone. They tried calling out, receiving calls, anything and everything you could do with a cell phone and absolutely nothing happened. The one thing they did find out was the static electricity build up of a person getting out of their car, you know when your sliding on your cloth seat getting out of the vehicle. Was more dangerous than anything they tried with a cell phone. They proved that the static electricity build up from getting out of your car would and did start a fire at the pump. Not just by grabbing the pump handle the first time, but by putting gas into your car, getting back into your car and then touching the pump handle while the gas was running. The static electricity build up from getting in and out of the car did start a fire during there experiment. That's why alot of pump handles have a rubber garment around the handle where you grab it to fill your car.
2007-01-27 20:42:52 · answer #1 · answered by Robert D 2 · 8⤊ 0⤋
When cars are filled witrh petrol or a tanker unloads there is an explosive atmosphere present. All it takes is a spark. Any electrical switching could ignite this. Dropping a phone is probably the riskiest. If the battery is displaced there could be a nice fat spark and the fumes tend to be most critical near ground level.
2007-01-30 09:05:16 · answer #2 · answered by fred35 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In theory use of a transmitter could generate a spark and ignite petrol vapour. However Richard Hammond and friends tried to demonstrate this on Braniac and failed. In any case you're allowed to start your engine at the pumps to drive off and that's a much bigger ignition source. IMHO this started in the CB days when some cowboys were running 100 watt power amps on their rigs and the energy could screw up the digital measuring in the pump.
2007-01-28 20:19:46 · answer #3 · answered by The original Peter G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in accordance to the Canada protection Council, all of it started as a "would desire to happen" concept that cellular telephones would desire to spark a fireplace while filling a petroleum tank. It became soundly typical that it can't happen yet no person had to take the lead in removing the warnings - no longer something for them to learn and doubtlessly lots to lose. From that viewpoint that's like a demonstration warning that dinosaurs would take revenge on you for putting their ancestors on your tank. The CSC does factor out (with validity) that the distraction of conversing on a cellular telephone on an identical time as fueling may well be volatile. As is many times talked approximately, static electrical energy from entering into your motor vehicle and leaving it to do away with the nozzle is an extremely actual fireplace danger. The ensuing fires are many times blamed on cellular telephone use. EDIT - that's well worth affirming between the excuses a cellular telephone can't reason an explosion at a petroleum station is a controversy of chemistry. gas is purely flammable in air in a concentration selection of a million.4% - 7.6% by utilising weight. even in the adventure that your cellular telephone battery have been to explode in flames it would not ignite the very low concentration of vapors around a station (except you have been to hold it to the filler nozzle in the time of filling, the place the concentration is a lot greater). the utmost permissible exposure decrease for petrol is 3 hundred ppm (.03% by utilising weight) so if the cellular telephone is interior an identical atmosphere you're that is no longer attainable for it to ignite gas vapors except you're already at risk for intense poisoning.
2016-11-01 11:48:51 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The reason is, sort of like that other person said 'sparks'. The phone doesnt spark when it rings tho. The no no behind it all is just in case you drop the phone or it falls off something and sparks.
About 10-15yrs agon now a guy pulled into a s.station to fill up. He was talking on the mobile as he got out of the car. He finished the phone call and placed the phone on the top of the car. Continued to fill up, went to pay and then drove off forgetting the phone on top. The phone fell off and sparked just near a small pool of fuel and yes KABOOM!
2007-01-27 20:08:57 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
1
2017-02-19 15:57:36 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because of pure ignorance and fear of people who do not know anybetter. , Somebody must think that the phone will produce a spark hot enough to ignite the fuel vapors in the air. You can't do this with a cigarette. I have put cigarettes out in a bowl of gas.
2007-01-27 20:45:18 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Robert d gets 10 points
2007-01-28 05:10:43 · answer #8 · answered by matzaballboy 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
If it rings, the speaker makes sparks, Ka-boom !
Plus, there's a dusty pay phone in the station, that nobody has used in years, they are trying to recycle.
2007-01-27 20:04:18 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
they say that cell phones cause static electricity that could ignite the gas fumes. That theory has been proved WRONG by Myth Busters. I do it all the time and blown up yet so.......
2007-01-27 23:07:52 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋