"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.net...
On Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:34:01 +0000, geoff wrote:

and the risk of a spark from e.g. dropping your keys ?

Keys tend to be brass, thus don;t spark.

Lets see..

steel
steel
brassed steel
steel
steel
brass
and a steel key ring
and a steel id plate

Iron or steel is normally
required to make a spark. I agree the risk from a mobile phone is minimal,
they don't after all take any precautions to prevent static discharge. May
be an urban myth but the a reason for the ban of transmitters on
forecourts is so the electronics in the pumps doesn't get confused and
misread...

The reason is that all radio equipment has to comply with the regulations
which predate mobiles.
If they ever update the regs they may allow mobiles but I doubt it for two
reasons..

You don't want some pillock being distracted by a mobile while they are
filling up.

If you drop a mobile and it get run over there is a good chance the battery
will short and Li batteries are quite good at exploding.