The archive / Technology and the internet
1999–2010 · Worldwide
Making a call can blow up the petrol station!
Phones at petrol stations
Panic meter
The verdict
Signs warned that phones could ignite petrol fumes. No such case has been confirmed.
Reality meter
What was said?
Around the turn of the millennium, signs went up at petrol stations the world over: switch off your mobile while refuelling. Chain emails spread stories of cars bursting into flames when the driver made a call.
The verdict: what happened next?
Investigations have not been able to confirm a single case of a mobile phone causing a fire while refuelling. The fires that have occurred were instead caused by static electricity, when someone got back into the car and then touched the nozzle.
The sign is still up in many places, but these days we pay for our fuel with our mobiles.
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