View Poll Results: You are riding along and come upon a downed power line. What do you do?
Ride over it. The rubber tires/tubes will protect you.
3
3.09%
Play it safe and bunny hop it.
7
7.22%
Carefully step over, while carrying the bike.
9
9.28%
Turn around and change route, it’s much too dangerous to risk.
59
60.82%
Stop and move the line to the side, so no one gets hurt.
2
2.06%
Other
17
17.53%
Voters: 97. You may not vote on this poll
Downed Power Lines
11-18-20, 11:46 AM
#76
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11-18-20, 04:03 PM
#77
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My second of my three (failed) attempts at ending my life (all not intended) happened when I managed to contact an apparently live electrical conduit with my sweaty right wrist while holding bailing wire in my equally sweaty left hand. Stopped my heart and breathing instantly. Paralyzed me, But I stayed fully conscious. Knew I had to break the contact and reasoned if I kicked hard enough I could unbalance myself and fall off the step ladder I was on. It worked. I got to about an inch past balance, then fell for what seemed like minutes before hitting the floor very hard flat on my back. The impact started my heart. Fascinating being completely aware of the state of my body the whole time.
We never duplicated the circuit. Probably 110V though it could have been 220V. Whatever, it was plenty.
Ben
We never duplicated the circuit. Probably 110V though it could have been 220V. Whatever, it was plenty.
Ben
11-18-20, 07:42 PM
#78
• —
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Just a reminder, Volts don’t flow or kill, they are just the energy difference between the two poles. The static charge you pick by schlepping around the house on a dry winter day and discharge into a doorknob can be in the thousands of volts. It’s current (Amps) that does all the work and damage and the damage potential is dependent not just on the amperage, but the density, that is, the Amps per unit area of the conductor. A milliampere current delivered through a needle will destroy tissue.
11-18-20, 08:11 PM
#79
Not a newbie to cycling
Join Date: Oct 2020
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Yep. It's also amps (milliamps) that kills people in freshwater harbours when there is faulty ground on one of the boats there. It doesn't really take much amperage.
Also, it's why an electric fence is rarely deadly: not many amps in it, and why you can halve your wire size if you go from 12V 10A to 24V 5A. It's the amps that carries the actual current.
Also, it's why an electric fence is rarely deadly: not many amps in it, and why you can halve your wire size if you go from 12V 10A to 24V 5A. It's the amps that carries the actual current.
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