[Ian_Giles]

Mobile phones....they'll be the death of us yet, though this will usually only occur if you send the seedy, sordid and obscene text you have just tapped out with shaking fingers to your wife....instead of your lover

I hate the misconceptions that can surround our trusty mobiles, trying using yours while filling up at the petrol station, the assistants have an absolute fit! They are bawling down the tannoy that the driver must stop using his phone before he kills us all by turning the station into a huge fireball

It's complete garbage of course, after getting caught using my moblie (wasn't on purpose, it rang, I answered ) and being ticked of loudly by some snot nosed teller I did some research.

The reason (and the only reason there has ever been) is that in the days when mobiles were just starting, one of the makes, I think it was Vodafone, had their phones operating on the same frequency as the pumps, using them around the petrol pumps could interfere with the signal to the tills (not necessarily in your favour either!).
None of the phones do so anymore, and it is an utter fallacy that a mobile can cause an explosion or ignite petrol fumes, the emitted microwaves would need to heat the air to the ignition point of the petrol, an absolute physical impossibility, you don't believe me, put a saucer of petrol in your microwave oven, turn it on to full power for 30 seconds, nothing will happen..............but make sure it is an old microwave oven, not the new one your wife picked up from Comet the week before, trust me, this is not a good idea
The stink of petrol fumes takes ages to get rid of

There is far greater risk of an explosion from the exhaust manifold, or a static spark from your clothing.

I have arguments with those behind the tills, not because I have used my phone, I just like to ask them if they know why you are not allowed to use a mobile phone. Invariably they all say it is because of the risk of explosion.
I will ask them if they ever use their mobile while sitting in the back of their friends car? They do know they are sat within a couple of feet of a massive bomb?
Most petrol tanks are of a composite makeup now, the microwaves will go straight through them

I just wish they would tell you it was simply company policy (which is fair enough I think) other than some stupid fairy tale.

I've known about this for a few years, but did anyone see the program on the telly where they surrounded some open petrol containers with a dozen or more mobile phones? And then rang them all at once? Nothing happened of course, then they made some clothes give off some static electricity and BOOM!!!

I missed the program myself, but a couple of mates told me about it

Have a nice day now

Ian

[rosskesava]

Hi Ian

You've just solved something that really puzzled me at the time.

A while back whilst getting petrol my mobile rang so I answered it. While filling up this bloke walks past me while going back to his car and tells me the cashier is going nuts at me which made absolutely no sense at all.

When I went to pay the er 'foreign gentleman cashier' kept saying to me over and over again that 'you cannot be doing that'. I said it's quite easy. Petrol pump in one hand, mobile in the other. Simple.

Then he went on about something about not making phone calls so I told him that is what a mobile phone is for.

Then he started shouting about blowing things up and I thought he was in some way refering to the Madrid train bombings which hadn't long before happened.

Now I understand.

[karlosdaze]

Using mobiles at gas stations is prohibited in Spain, due to the prooven evidence of ignition in close proximity of petrol. So if you're on your hands-free driving past your nearest gas station, you can watch the firework display in your rear mirror.

[Duke]

lol...