# Live, ice-coated wire falls on SUV. Three electrocuted

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/live-ice-coated-wire-falls-on-suv-three-electrocuted/194207>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [January 19, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/live-ice-coated-wire-falls-on-suv-three-electrocuted/194207 "2024-01-19T17:33:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Robert-Gift](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/robert-gift/32/356_2.png) [@Robert-Gift](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robert-Gift)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/live-ice-coated-wire-falls-on-suv-three-electrocuted/194207/1 "2024-01-19T17:33:11Z")

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> **[A baby lived because an Oregon teen couldn't stand by after she saw 3 people...](https://sentinelcolorado.com/nation-world/nation/a-baby-lived-because-an-oregon-teen-couldnt-stand-by-after-she-saw-3-people-get-electrocuted/?utm_medium=email)**
>
> "I was concerned about the baby," said Washington, who recognized the woman as her neighbor's daughter. "Nobody was with the baby."

Heroine Majiah Washington is lucky that she was not electrocuted.  
If possible, I would have driven over,eachedown andragged the man off the driveway. Then woman and teen.  
Probably a 7,200 volt line.

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**Author:** ![PvtPublic](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/pvtpublic/32/13089_2.png) [@PvtPublic](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PvtPublic)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/live-ice-coated-wire-falls-on-suv-three-electrocuted/194207/2 "2024-01-20T00:38:35Z")

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Please just go away.

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**Author:** ![Robert-Gift](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/robert-gift/32/356_2.png) [@Robert-Gift](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Robert-Gift)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 3:34am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/live-ice-coated-wire-falls-on-suv-three-electrocuted/194207/3 "2024-01-20T03:34:22Z")

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> [@PvtPublic](#):
>
> _Please just go away._

Three did.

I also carry 100 feet of 1/4" polypropylene rope.  
May take too long to lasso a horizontal person to drag them away.  
Can’think of anyvay better to improvise a rescue.

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**Author:** ![oilman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/91b2a8/32.png) [@oilman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oilman)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/live-ice-coated-wire-falls-on-suv-three-electrocuted/194207/4 "2024-01-22T17:07:24Z")

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my dad saw a car that hit a telephone/power poll many years ago (40 or so). There were like 2 people in the car. It was raining. They were safe in the car (rubber tires). They both got out and stepped on the ground. He said they were burnt like a piece of charcoal.

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**Author:** ![SteveCBT](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/stevecbt/32/3192_2.png) [@SteveCBT](https://community.cartalk.com/u/SteveCBT)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/live-ice-coated-wire-falls-on-suv-three-electrocuted/194207/5 "2024-01-22T19:52:48Z")

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Downed power lines are nothing to mess around with. typically 7,000 or 14,000 volts. A downed line that is sparking will loose power after about 30 seconds, the system will power down, reset and reactivate, it will do this many times trying to reset. You can’t assume a non sparking line will remain unpowered. A car with a downed line is actually a safe place to be. As @oilman related the tires insulate the car, stepping out results in crispy critters. As firefighters we were trained to keep two poles away until the power company deactivated the line. Pole with the downed wire +1. There is no safe way to rescue a person from a downed line, only after the power is confirmed off can you approach the victim. It is heartbreaking and frustrating to wait, but a dead rescuer is no help to anyone

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**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/live-ice-coated-wire-falls-on-suv-three-electrocuted/194207/6 "2024-01-22T20:34:42Z")

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Yep, stay in the car if at all possible. The car’s body acts as a Faraday cage, routing the electricity through the exterior, keeping away from the interior:

" They are also used to protect people and equipment against electric currents such as [lightning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning) strikes and [electrostatic discharges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_discharge), since the enclosing cage conducts current around the outside of the enclosed space and none passes through the interior."

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**Author:** ![davesmopar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/davesmopar/32/41750_2.png) [@davesmopar](https://community.cartalk.com/u/davesmopar)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 11:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/live-ice-coated-wire-falls-on-suv-three-electrocuted/194207/7 "2024-01-22T23:19:44Z")

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The majority of non Darwin contestants know about staying in the vehicles in a situation like this… But then you have some people that know more than everyone else and ignore all common sense…

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**Author:** ![PvtPublic](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/pvtpublic/32/13089_2.png) [@PvtPublic](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PvtPublic)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/live-ice-coated-wire-falls-on-suv-three-electrocuted/194207/8 "2024-01-23T20:30:58Z")

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> [@davesmopar](#):
>
> But then you have some people that know more than everyone else and ignore all common sense…

I can think of a couple right on this site!
