Mobile Phones in Petrol Stations

[skelly]

Why can't you use your mobile phone in a petrol station?

[rekstout]

I was told that it has nothing to do with static discharge or RF interference but is for two reasons - firstly it distracts you from the - potentially - dangerous act of filling you vehicle with highly inflammable petrol and secondly, a spark may be caused if the phone were dropped and the battery were dislodged. Petrol vapours hugging the floor could be ignited.

[MadScientist]

The radio transmission signals from early mobile phones had to be a lot more powerful than they are now because there were not many receiving base stations around. High energy radio waves can knock electrons out of atoms causing a spark (thats all a spark is - moving electrons). This is very dangerous when highly volatile petrol vapour is present because it could obviously cause an explosion.

[mac309]

The reason is that it breaks the 1904 wireless act and at close range the microwave energy could cause fuel vapour to ignite.