In New Zealand, fuel pumps couldn't handle this leap year

Many drivers were unable to put fuel into their cars due to a problem with automated fuel pumping stations in the country.

It is a day that returns every four years, but it can be accompanied by unpleasant surprises. In New Zealand, February 29 was not an easy day for some drivers. The reason is a problem with the automatic fuel pumps. Julian Lees, a spokesman for Gull New Zealand, one of the affected companies, explained that they wanted to refuel, but were unable to pay for the fuel because the software used by payment stations to the fuel pump “could not calibrate to the fact that it was February 29”. companies, in The New York Times.

Invenco, another company that experienced the outages, explained that it was a one-time issue, caused by a software update made during the coronavirus pandemic. Although these payment terminals are used in more than 100 countries, New Zealand was the only country affected.

Software issues

Simeon Brown, New Zealand's Minister of Transport, told local media RNZ It is disappointing that these systems did not take into account the date of February 29, noting that “leap years occur every four years and are not new.” “This should not have happened,” said John Scott, product manager at Invenco, as well.

However, software issues are common during leap years. In addition to gas pumps in New Zealand, Electronic Arts' racing game Sports WRC crashed on startup due to the date, forcing the publisher to advise players to change the date to March 1 on their console so they can play.

In France, the streets of Paris were deprived of public lighting on the night of February 28 to 29 due to a computer glitch related to the leap year.