Why is using cell phones dangerous at gas stations?
In: Technology
They say the static electricity that can come from your phone can cause a spark therefore igniting a flame and blowing the whole place up.
It’s not. Same as on airplanes where they could somehow interfere with the instruments.
There was a paranoia that there could be a static buildup or a spark emitted somehow but this is false. This has been disproven multiple times via multiple studies.
Answer: it isn’t.
This started out as a misunderstanding of the nature of low-power electronics mixed with a bit of “better safe than sorry”.
The fact is that there’s just no way for a phone to generate a static arc sufficient to ignite fuel vapors. Voltage is what dictates how big a static arc can be generated. The zap you get from shuffling your feet on carpet and then touching something grounded is in the range of 10’s of thousands of volts. The battery in your phone is in the 3v – 5v range. Maybe 12v for the earliest cell phones.
You’re far more likely to generate a static arc by climbing into and then back out of your car and then grounding on the nozzle when you go to remove it. That has been documented to happen on innumerable occasions.
It is not, they literally have tap to pay (which works with phones) attached to many pumps now adays.
It became a rule generally because people would start pumping and then get into their car to mess with their phone. While the phone itself isn’t dangerous, getting into and out of your car can generate enough static charge to ignite gas vapors. This is why if you have to get into your car for any reason it’s suggested that you touch a metal part of the car away from the gas pump area before you try to grab the hose out of your car.
I will tell you the same thing I told an elderly man at a gas station who interrupted my phone call
“There is an engine in my car that is 1000x bigger than my phone, isn’t airtight, and is powered of literally thousands of explosions every minute, inside the same car is exposed wires and a battery that’s much bigger and holds more power than my phone, these vehicles drive right next to the pump at thousands of gas pumps in thousands of cities every day and don’t explode….. my phone is gonna do shit”
It generally isn’t, however my understanding of the threat vector is that it was the rf energy being emitted by the cellphone that was potentially dangerous. Keep in mind the frequency, power, and transport mechanisms have changed from when this guidence was more widespread. We are on 5g now right? I believe there are no 1g or 2g networks operating in the US anymore.
It went hand in hand with the guidance for working around explosives (the thought being that rf may induce enough current in a firing circuit to initiate it).
ETA: if you were around back then, maybe you remember cell phones that would cause speakers to make a noise if you put the cell phone close to it?
That noise was caused by rf energy from the phone inducing small currents in the speaker wires. Now, imagine doing that with an arc producing device that just so happens to be near the gas pump.
Because you’re paying attention to the phone/conversation instead of paying attention to the fueling operation.
It’s not the phones themselves, while there is a risk of any device creating a spark it is extremely low but the thing is that you are a lot less careful while using your phone, also it is always to exaggerate on the safe side when there’s is a chance of the whole building exploding
[Mythbusters](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeRJkde7iHo) did a segment — it isnt.
Latest Answers