It has nothing to do with profits. That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. If the electronics were prone to that, just having the phone turned on in the car could cause that, since cell phones repeatedly ping for a signal tower. If that were an issue, you'd have to turn off your phone completely -- like in hospitals or airplanes.

Hospitals are becoming more open about that. My former wife keeps hers on her at work, though she doesn't take it to patient rooms. She leaves it at the station.

"Hospitals are becoming more open about that. My former wife keeps hers on her at work, though she doesn't take it to patient rooms. She leaves it at the station."

Out of politeness or as a safty measure?

Possible but unproven? - an academic view - http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/uso/health&safety/docs/MobilePhoneA.pdf

Perhaps the proposal is not to prevent fires/explosions but rather to prevent careless people from spilling gasoline.

THis is acutaly true being that gas evaporates a a a very fast pace the fume could come in contack with the elsctricity in pagers or phones. this i why your supposed to turn the car totaly off when filling you tank up.

I agree, and while we're at it, we should be allowed to smoke while pumping gas...

*FOOM*

nevermind...

Evildream, please learn how to type. From the little intelligible bits of that I have ascertained that you are infact a moron.

Also, I don't if anyone here is from Southeastern CT but the New London Day printed an article on this where they state:

"There are documented cases of people across the country who have become engulfed in flames at gas pumps because the sparks from static electricity ignited gas vapors while they were fueling their cars. That's why there are signs at gas pumps warning motorists of the danger. And it illustrates why using a cell phone, which could give off an electric discharge, and pumping gas, is not a good idea."

I heart fact checking. Mind you The Day didn't have too much credibility to begin with but this is just silly.

I just see a re-run on Mythbusters on this same myth. They proved it cant happen. Instead they said it is most likely caused by static from people (mostly women) going in and out of their cars during the gassing process.

If you believe that cell phones can cause fires at gas stations then I guess you better look out for the boogyman.

The Petroleum Equipment Institute, the organization representing makers of gas pumps, and the American Petroleum Institute, both state that the cause of fires at gas stations is static electricity and NOT cell phones. The PEI investigated hundreds of reports of fires at gas pumps and none of them were caused by cell phones.

http://www.pei.org/static/

What if the woman is getting in and out of her SUV while pumping gas and talking on her cell phone like I saw the other day. Does this double or triple the risk factor?

I work at a gas station and I have seen tons of people talking on cell phones, leaving their cars on and sometimes yes even smoking. Nothing has happened and I have not heard of anything happening in the past. We are a very busy gas station and get TONS of very stupid people so if this stuff is actually true then for some reason my store has been axceptionally lucky...

Hey on myth busters they did that cell phone test many time not a single spark they even did it with out the cell phone case with the circut board exposed

So does that mean that this article is just a hoax too?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/14/tech/main617547.shtml

And is it really such a big deal to just turn off your phone before pumping gas?

Is it illegal to use cell a cell phone at a gas station pump in Michigan ???

There is no way in hell that anyone in their right mind would set off explosives with a radio signal, unless they wanted to whack someone.

tiker-tape, there is no way in hell that anyone in their right mind would set off explosives with a radio signal unless they were going to whack someone.

The main culprit is static discharge.

All this fear came about because of ignorance. Some years back a fire occurred when someone was fueling while using a cell phone. Since then people have thought it must be the cell phone, and like using cell phones on planes, they are trying to play it safe.

The fear is that the RF energy from the cell phone could energize the fuel nozzle. This is impossible, the cell phone would never provide enough energy to do it. If the cell phone was putting out enough energy for this to occur, you'd you'd be cooking. We're talking hundreds of watts of power.

You'll note that taxi drivers been never been advised
to switch off their radios which are many watts more powerful than a cell phone. The whole forecourt is
surrounded by RF signals. It's not the RF that causes spark, I can assure you of that.

Suggest you touch your car before fueling as you get out - thereby grounding it. This would prevent a possible spark when you put the fuel nozzle into the tank right next to the fuel vapour.

Don't forget about wireless credit card machines. Those are cellphones too. That kind of device should by ban too? And what about the gasoline dispenser, it has all kind of electrónics inside, same as the car stereo, the electric radio antena also uses DC; in my country many stations are self-served thus having intercomunicators near dispensors, are they safe?
We could go on, trying to find things that DON'T IGNITE. I believe regulations should enforce decharging static electricity on car chasis instead.

All i can say is every instance iv been told of for the cell phone causing a fire at a gas station was founded on the internet and in tabloids. Many bits of info on the internet for both sides of this argument have little or no facts or studys. There are only 2 cases where iv found cell phones being stated as the cause of a gas fire. Both have been disproven by experts in many different profesional fields. I personaly dont talk on my phone at many times in the day when some others feel its necessary. Such as driving, pumping gas, using the bath room. Its rediculous put the damn phone down for 5 min and see that ther are some things that you need full consetration for and that others dont want to here on the other end. Untill i find actual prof of this phenomenon, not just some posting on a web site sayin so, im not buyin it.