in the "I can't win" dept.:

[mmd]

MONTESANO, Wash. (AP) — Authorities believe a man was killed by accidentally urinating on a downed power line after a car crash.

Greys Harbor County sheriff’s Deputy Dave Pimentel told KXRO-AM radio Monday that Roy Messenger was not seriously hurt after he collided with a power pole Friday and called a relative to pull his car from a ditch.

However, family members found 50-year-old Messenger electrocuted when they arrived.

Pimentel says Messenger apparently urinated into a roadside ditch but didn’t see the live wire. The urine stream likely served as a conductor, allowing the electricity to reach his body.

[ron ll]

I thought Mythbusters proved that can't happen. A normal urination stream is actually disconnected droplets.

[Popeye]

it can happen if he made a puddle

[Michael D. Storey]

More likely he stepped on it whilst relieving hisself. I would imagine, however, there would be a tell-tale sign of cooked flesh, as it were, no?

[Popeye]

single phase unfused line power can sever your limbs

[Bobcat]

I thought Mythbusters proved that can't happen. A normal urination stream is actually disconnected droplets.

Mythbusters involved peeing on an electric fence, not a downed power line.

[Michael D. Storey]

Mythbusters involved peeing on an electric fence, not a downed power line.

Considering that power lines regularly carry 600V next to roadways, I reckon its a little more dire than the one radio in the bathtub thing.

Still, some guy's dead. Too bad, tough luck, I'm awful sorry.
Let's move along; these are not the droids we are looking for.

[ron ll]

Mythbusters involved peeing on an electric fence, not a downed power line.

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh. (If you'll pardon the pun.)

[John B]

reporting here was a little bit more to the point.


Authorities in the US believe a man was killed by accidentally urinating on a downed power line after a car crash.
Sheriff's Deputy Dave Pimentel, of Grays Harbour County in Washington, told KXRO-AM radio on Monday that Roy Messenger was not seriously hurt after he collided with a power pole on Friday and called a relative to pull his car from a ditch.
However, family members found 50-year-old Messenger electrocuted when they arrived.
Pimentel says Messenger apparently urinated into a roadside ditch but didn't see the live wire. The urine stream likely served as a conductor, allowing the electricity to reach his body.
Pimentel says there will be an autopsy but burn marks indicated the way the electricity travelled through Messenger's body.

[Popeye]

good golly miss molly and great balls of fire

[johnw]

I thought Mythbusters proved that can't happen. A normal urination stream is actually disconnected droplets.
Maybe their test subject had an enlarged prostate.

[shamus]

Elecricity arcs quite well in moist air. No need for every drop to be connected.

[Michael D. Storey]

Elecricity arcs quite well in moist air. No need for every drop to be connected.
Actually, it takes a good deal of power to arc in moist air.

[mmd]

And apparently downed power lines have a good deal of power...

[Phillip Allen]

yes they do...first hand experience

when a fireman a crain toppled and carried down a 7200 volt line
the sharp end of the wire eventually settled down on the pavement and we stood back 'till the elect company mad all safe

I strolled over to look at the hole at the location of the wire end and quickly sank into the molten pavement for 5 or 6 inches before I could scramble out of range

[johnw]

Holy ****
You worship strange Gods.

[paul oman]

so he sort of went while going....

this is one of those topics you can latch onto if you want..

[johnw]

Paul, I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole. Not that I'm boasting...

[Lew Barrett]

Relatively local, I read it in the Seattle Times this AM and was disturbed as I picked through the article.


I wonder if it's too early to start making jokes about it. A few come to mind, but in all sincerity, it's pretty tragic and the puns are rather cheaply and easily made. As a prostate cancer patient, I well remember that for a period of time, it was quite hard to go long periods without finding myself in a rather urgent fix. Let's face it; could have been any one of us under the wrong circumstances.

[johnw]

Too true, Lew. The prostate remark came to mind because I've now got a big, manly one, for which I have to take the fortuitously named Flomax.

[Yeadon]

This thread has been ugly in so many different ways.

[WX]

The figure of 66,000 volts rings a bell for powerlines, that's here anyway.

[WX]

household power is 240 volts.

[Ron Williamson]

It depends on where.
They step down all the way along.
If the guy was wearing shoes and not wet,one would assume that the power would flow to the ground,down the stream as opposed to upstream to Mr.Friendly.
R

[goodbasil]

I took a leak onto a 12v fence once, don't try to tell me that nothing happens. So did my dog once, sure effected him.

[Ian McColgin]

Street distribution [not the high voltage transmission lines] in the USA is mostly either about 7KV, 14KV or 20KV - rough terms - depending on load demands on that circuit and how old the circuit is. There are plenty of substandard lines, like the meager 550V circuit in Vineyard Haven. That's why a downed line that's arcing can melt sand into glass.

[MiddleAgesMan]

I've received static shocks while letting go in the toilet in winter so don't tell me Mythbusters busted THAT myth.

[htom]

Modern electric fences are a whole lot safer than the early ones. Redi Kilowatt is not your friend.

[C. Ross]

This thread has been ugly in so many different ways.

Wooden boat guys eat schadenfreude on toast for breakfast.

[oznabrag]

Wooden boat guys eat schadenfreude on toast for breakfast.

There's toast?

[C. Ross]

The toast goes well with coffee, served cold, bitter, and oily.

[S B]

You don't have to piss on the line to be electrocuted, just close enough for it to arc.

[mmd]

I used to be a linesman in my mis-spent youth. Ask me how I know about arcing...

[Popeye]

nova scotians can be so uppity at times

i have no idea why

[mmd]

Not gonna rise to the bait, Popeye. Got something germane to contribute to the conversation? Your wit - when on topic - is usually pretty funny and appreciated...

[Popeye]

the germans ain't got nothing to do with it