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SpokeyDokey

SpokeyDokey

67, & my GP says I will officially be old at 70!
Moderator
I like to see and have the actual money in my hand. I will not even buy things online and use my card just at cash machines. I just dislike the automation perhaps.

I hear what you are saying but buying something online with the card is the same as using the card at a cash machine. The former simply debits your a/c for a product or service and the latter debits the a/c for cash.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
In actual fact, my cards had been in there for years and work perfectly with contactless. I look like a yuppie as I casually tap my CAT B25 on the card reader.
Last time I "tapped" my handset on one of those machines, the machine stopped working.
 

classic33

Leg End Member
Yup - you'll still see a sign on every forecourt though. I got yelled at about 6 months ago for using my phone whilst fuelling at a Sainsbury's Petrol Station forecourt (I was on a Conference call and didn't really give it a second thought). Loud woman wasn't having it at all. "it's illegal" (it isn't), "it's dangerous" (it isn't).
I did snap a little and ask if she had a mobile phone in her pocket and if so, was it switched on?

But as I said, I get massively annoyed by airline staff making you put your phones / laptops / tablets away for takeoff.
Mobile phone use in a petrol station "is expressly forbidden by law under the conditions of the petroleum licence and associated guidance."
 

OldShep

Über Member
Mobile phone use in a petrol station "is expressly forbidden by law under the conditions of the petroleum licence and associated guidance."
UKPIA site states

"Risk of incendive sparking - Mobile phones are not designed and certified for use in explosive atmospheres which exist temporarily around the pump and nozzle during refuelling as well as around the fill and vent pipes during petrol deliveries. Whilst the risk of incendive sparking from mobile phones is low, they are not intrinsically safe devices and should not be used in those hazardous areas (listed below) that exist on a forecourt
For these reasons, the use of mobiles phones by the public is prohibited in the following particularly sensitive locations:

  • In the area of the vehicle filler point when filling a vehicle.
  • In the immediate vicinity of a fuel dispenser, except in clearly identified non-hazardous areas specifically intended for portable device use.
  • In the immediate vicinity of tank fill points, tank and separator vents.
  • In the vicinity of a tanker when unloading.
Generally, there is no need to restrict the use of mobile telephones in other areas of the forecourt, such as in the shop, in parked motor vehicles or in other traffic-free, non-hazardous areas."
 

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
From the UKPIA:

"On occasion unsubstantiated reports emerge of mobile phones causing fires on petrol filling stations and other locations where flammable vapours are present. In fact, when research has been done into whether this has occurred, no evidence linking fires to mobile phone ignition has been found."


It goes on to say that use of mobile phones at filling areas is "actively discouraged", giving the primary reason that, as when driving, it poses a serious risk of distraction. The secondary reason is given as the low risk of incendive sparking being further reason to avoid using them.

The fact remains that in the billions of fuelling activities that take place annually, there has never been a fire incident that could be attributed to a mobile phone. Indeed, the petrol companies now provided the facility for you to use your mobile to pay at the pump!

(Edited to correct a typo)
 
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Lozz360

Veteran
Location
Oxfordshire
It may be true that a mobile phone is not intrinsically safe for use in flammable areas, but the same can be said of cars and other vehicles.

As far as I know, there has never been a fire on a petrol forecourt that was attributed to a mobile phone being proven to be the cause of the ignition. I understand that in the US there were a number of fires at forecourts in the early days of mobile phones and it was believed by some that the phones were the cause; however, this was never proven, but probably still contributed to the ban on mobiles at petrol forecourt, globally. These fires didn’t happen in the UK as frequently as in the US. Probably because US ‘gas pumps’ enable the user to fill up hands free while here in the UK the latching device on the pump is disabled. So in the US and some other countries you can fill up with fuel while you get back in your car, fidget around, build up plenty of static, go and retrieve the pump nozzle, static discharges and boom!
 
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