They have automatic shutoff valves tho.

European ones have locks as well, but they also have a sensor that disengages the lock when fuel level reaches the nozzle. That's what I've seen all over the world TBH.

"Bizarrely". Great feature and it doesn't cause fires. They don't keep pumping endlessly, you know--they stop automatically. And they are very much not locks. They have tiny ridges which can hold the pump handle in place but which easily come undone.

Are you talking about pumps from the 90s?

I was taught the problem with lockable handles became apparent in the 00's when E85 became a thing, as it ignites much more easily from static discharge than gasoline or diesel. Maybe I was taught incorrectly, maybe you guys had E85 earlier than us (Sweden).

In the 90s ... users being distracted by their phones

Do you have a source for that? Cell phones were rare in the 90s. Even then, they weren't "smart phones" by any sense - they were just used for talking. No text, no apps, no games. Cell phones didn't become common distractions until the early 00s.