Skip to main content

Fuelling the fire

A motorcyclist in India found out exactly why it is advisable not to use a cellphone while topping up fuel at a filling station. The man stopped to fill the tank of his motorcycle, then rested the phone on the bike. A huge flame suddenly appeared, setting the rider and his bike alight. Luckily however an attendant was near at hand, quickly coming to the aid of the rider. The motorcyclist also had the good sense to move his bike away from the pumps, preventing the fire from spreading.
December 23, 2015 Read time: 1 min

A motorcyclist in India found out exactly why it is advisable not to use a cellphone while topping up fuel at a filling station. The man stopped to fill the tank of his motorcycle, then rested the phone on the bike. A huge flame suddenly appeared, setting the rider and his bike alight. Luckily however an attendant was near at hand, quickly coming to the aid of the rider. The motorcyclist also had the good sense to move his bike away from the pumps, preventing the fire from spreading.

Related Content

  • India road safety aim to save lives
    November 29, 2016
    A study produced by the United Nations reveals the high risk of motorcycling in India. In 2015 the country had 36,800 motorcyclists killed on its roads, with a further 93,400 being injured. However the UN’s study reveals that the fatality rate for India’s motorcyclists could be cut by as much as 42%, if helmet wearing was mandatory. Compulsory helmet use by India’s motorcycle riders would save around 15,000 needless deaths/year, while cutting serious head injuries by around 69%. The UN Motorcycle Helmet Stu
  • Safer roads needed for the gig economy
    May 14, 2019
    Roads everywhere are becoming high-pressure workplaces for millions of gig economy workers, meaning traffic police need a new way to regulate how highways are used. Geoff Hadwick reports from Manchester, UK The way in which the world’s highways are designed, built and used needs to change fast as the gig economy becomes a global phenomenon. Millions of low-paid and badly-trained freelance drivers are now using road as their workplace, all of them working hard under huge amounts of pressure. The tren
  • Which way now?
    March 1, 2012
    Drivers using GPS navigation systems are being urged not to trust their devices too closely by police forces. In the Australian state of Victoria, police are telling drivers not to throw away their maps after a series of incidents in which motorists in ordinary road cars have become stranded after following GPS directions and taking routes only accessible to four-wheel drive vehicles.
  • Research shows fall in US motorcyclist deaths
    May 13, 2014
    New research shows a drop in motorcyclist deaths in the US. The figures compiled for the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) show a 7% drop in motorcyclist fatalities in the US in 2013, compared with data for the previous year. However, the GHSA cautions that poor weather in 2013 may have had an effect, reducing the total distance travelled by motorcyclists and therefore the numbers of crashes. Research shows 2013 to be only the second year since 1997 in which there has been a drop in motorcyclist d