Elma man electrocuted by urinating on power line
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MONTESANO, Wash. -- An Elma man was killed by accidentally urinating on a downed power line after a one-car crash near Montesano.

Grays Harbor County sheriff's Deputy Dave Pimentel (PIM'-en-tel) said Monday that 50-year-old Roy Messenger was not seriously hurt after he collided with a power pole Friday night and called a relative to pull his car out of the ditch.

When family members arrived they found Messenger electrocuted. Pimentel says Messenger apparently urinated into a roadside ditch but didn't see the live wire.

Pimentel says there will be an autopsy but burn marks indicated the way the electricity traveled through the body.

http://www.seattlepi.com/...ution.html

Years ago at a branding a neighbor boy peed on an electric fence on a dare and he never forgot it.

[This message has been edited by GCC (3/1/2010)]

He was probably a terrorist. I'll bet it made you feel a lot safer.

Yikes. Mythbusters supposedly "proved" that this is not possible.

Bridgier, debate with you is like trying to reason with a spoiled child, best to give them a time-out so they can collect their emotions and hope they mature soon.

and hope they mature soon.

I wouldn't hope to much if I were you.

The Mythbusters were doing the third rail on a commuter train. My guess is the power going through the rail is less than what is going through a power line.

Amorette - good point - I should read a bit closer. I have no doubt that a downed power line would "get ya!"

Makes me think we should spend a gazillion dollars to run a little 220 to the urinals at the Capital buildings.

Amorette is correct. Third rails are maximum of 1500 volts, where even a residential overhead line could be as much as 30,000 volts. Who in the heck knocks down a power line and then stands around under it, let alone decides to take a whiz? I think if I had just knocked over a power line I would try to stand back a ways.

I have experimented with the electric fence thing with my cousins when I was younger and it doesn't shock you. I have heard that if you push someone into an electric fence and you are still holding on to them, you get shocked as well though.

Who in the heck knocks down a power line and then stands around under it, let alone decides to take a whiz?

Er, a drunk person?

There was one kid on our block who had an old refrigerator in his garage that his parents wouldn't throw away. When it was plugged in and running, the steel outer shell and handle would carry some of the 110volt charge. We would have a neighborhood contest among the kids to see who could hold the handle the longest. One very determined kid passed out and his fingers locked around the handle. A few of us tried to pull him off but the voltage kept us from making contact with him for very long and we couldn't get his hand open. Looked like he was in bad shape until one of us had enough sense to unplug the damn fridge. He was loopy for awhile but ended up fine.

When I was but a wee lad, the family was visiting some relatives on a farm in North Dakota. I was bored, and wandered away from the group. I came across an electric fence, and curiosity got the best of me. It was raining lightly, and I grabbed a handful of wet grass and laid it on the fence, likely trying to start something on fire. It shocked the hell out of me, actually knocking me off my feet. I have grown up a little since that day, but have shocked myself several times while crossing an electric fence while bird hunting. I have found that it really isn't much of a shock at all. More like a sharp tingling. But certainly enough to make you move away from the fence in a hurry. I have also seen bird dogs brush up against a hot fence, and it gets their attention quickly. But I seriously doubt that the current would move up a urine stream, although I am not going to test that theory myself. I am just not that curious.

Wise decision Matt

[This message has been edited by GCC (3/3/2010)]

The shock you get when you touch an electric fence varies greatly depending on how well grounded you are. If you touch it wearing leather gloves and thick rubber soled boots on dry ground you can barely feel it. If you touch it with bare hands while holding onto a steel fence post with your other bare hand in a rainstorm, you get a heck of a shock. I remember as a kid riding my bike alongside the fence and sliding my hand along the wire and while you were on the bike you just got a tiny little twinge once a second.

I will admit to accidentally whizzing on an electric fence while a youth walking home in the dark late one night. I will never forget it, I think I know what a bull feels like when he's "stimulated" during A.I. collection. It is a very intense painful jolt, if you don't believe me you're welcome to come out to my place this summer when my electric fence is on and try it- I'd like to get it on film and turn it in to America's Funniest Videos.

FYI- my fence charger runs 9.000 volts, but only for a few seconds at a time. Pee on that.

I'm sorry to spoil the fun but I guess he didn't get electrocuted through his urine stream:

Autopsy: Man electrocuted through wire, not urine
The Associated Press

MONTESANO, Wash. - Autopsy results show a Washington man was electrocuted by touching a downed power line with his hand, not through his urine stream, as first suspected.

Grays Harbor County Chief Deputy Dave Pimentel (PIM'-en-tel) said the results showed 50-year-old Roy Messenger of Elma touched the wire and the current shot through his body to his feet.

Pimentel said Thursday that Messenger may have been urinating at the time, but it had nothing to do with his death.

Messenger's car collided with a power pole Friday, knocking down the wire, and he called relatives to help pull his car from a ditch.

When relatives found him dead, it appeared he had urinated on the downed wire.

http://seattletimes.nwsou...ution.html