Back in 2015 i was working on a building project as a gateman, coming up to knocking off time, the groundworkers were rushing to complete the install of some lampposts near the entrance, the holes had been excavated, the sleeves for the posts inserted and wiring fitted, the post was being placed into the hole using an excavator, with the post chained to it boom, a guy was holding the post at the bottom and guiding it into the hole, when the boom lifted the post to an upright position it connected with an 11,000 volt power line, that nobody (!) had noticed previously (after all the processes mentioned earlier). The guy was seriously injured but it was only the fact that the post was in contact with the ground that prevented the man from dying instantly. I was about 20ft away from the incident and the person that called the ambulance, firebrigade and electric company.
http://www.basingstokeobserver.co.uk/companies-fined-280k-after-man-severely-hurt-by-electric-shock
The last I heard he was doing ok, albeit with some lasting effects, I think he was invalided off work. I think the fact that the pole was in contact with the ground at the time, and the current wasnt earthing totally through him saved his life.Yikes! That guy is so lucky to have survived, (if he did?)
I'm sorry you had to see that. I hope you're ok.
I've worked in construction for over 20 years, and teach electrical and buried utility safety, and it's always sad and scary to hear about these incidents happening, when they shouldn't.
Do the lights go a bit brighter when he walks into a room?some lasting effects
The last I heard he was doing ok, albeit with some lasting effects, I think he was invalided off work. I think the fact that the pole was in contact with the ground at the time, and the current wasnt earthing totally through him saved his life.
Years ago my brother and the ex were fixing some old Fiesta and gave it a test drive, whereupon it reached the street corner and burst into flames.
The Fire Brigade attended right away and quickly put it out. As they left one sucked his teeth and said 'Yeah, we've 'ad a few o'them lately.'
I had many questions but with a wave he was gone.
Years ago, a lady my parents knew had her Mini go up in flames one day.Years ago my brother and the ex were fixing some old Fiesta and gave it a test drive, whereupon it reached the street corner and burst into flames.
The Fire Brigade attended right away and quickly put it out. As they left one sucked his teeth and said 'Yeah, we've 'ad a few o'them lately.'
I had many questions but with a wave he was gone.
Yikes! I'm glad you escaped unscathed. That was the other thing that struck me about yesterday's scene: the driver had had the wit to get out, but they were standing right by the car. Me, I'd have wanted to put a bit of distance between.I had a Peugeot 405 which went up in flames, big explosion when the full fuel tank exploded. We were lucky to escape unharmed.
Yikes! I'm glad you escaped unscathed. That was the other thing that struck me about yesterday's scene: the driver had had the wit to get out, but they were standing right by the car. Me, I'd have wanted to put a bit of distance between.
Yup, I was once driving a car with my eldest as a passenger when we noticed smoke coming from under the bonnet.Yikes! I'm glad you escaped unscathed. That was the other thing that struck me about yesterday's scene: the driver had had the wit to get out, but they were standing right by the car. Me, I'd have wanted to put a bit of distance between.
That bystander may have saved your lives! I'm sure you know that.I was actually driving when it caught fire but didn't realise, I stopped at a mini roundabout and the car stalled, I tried to restart it and could see a guy on the pavement frantically waving and yelling at me so we panicked and jumped out of the car.
Afterwards the bloke said that when I turned the key a jet of flame shot out of the exhaust and smoke appeared under the car so I guess the ignition spark actually ignited the fuel?
We got about 30 yards before it exploded. Unfortunately I didn't fly through the air like an action hero.
The complexity of modern cars makes fires actually more likely. I've seen a few recently mainly on motorways. Instinctively people throw open the bonnet which of course gives more oxygen to the fire. I carry a fire extinguisher just in case.Yesterday, Madame Snail posted in the jokes thread:
Tonight, on my way home from work, I saw a car stopped in the other carriageway with its bonnet up and, sure enough, flames flickering in the engine bay. I've never seen that before in thirty years of driving.
Who the hell does that? Are they more concerned about the car than their own skin?Instinctively people throw open the bonnet
I've had two cars go on fire in the street outside my house in the past 5 years. In both cases the bonnet wasn't opened - in the first case the car was abandoned in the wee small hours and whoever was in it legged it away pretty sharpish. In the second case, the driver got out and called the fire brigade. What surprised me was just how quickly they went up, in the second case it went from smoke coming out of a wheel arch to a blazing inferno in a few minutes.Who the hell does that? Are they more concerned about the car than their own skin?
Not me. The minute I was sure the car was on fire I'd be out and off, which is what once actually happened.
Bugger the car and contents.
Yup, I used to drive horrifically dilapidated Transit vans which all had sturdy failsafe bonnet catch assemblies.Back in the late 70s I saw a ford Cortina going around a roundabout with smoke and small flame coming out of wheel-arch. I tried to catch him up but by the time I had got onto the busy roundabout they were gone.
On a different note, I was driving up the M1 and drawing level with a car I was overtaking when his bonnet flipped back and covered the screen. I kept an eye open and he did manage to get it to the hard shoulder fortunately. It was then I realised why you used to see those pegs and wire clips on customised car bonnets
Only last year I had new brake pads fitted and when I collected the car I set off up the motorway straight away. It was very sunny and after 10 miles or so, and travelling at around 70mph, I noticed the sun was glinting on the front of the bonnet in a funny kind of way. I pulled off at the next service station and found the bonnet hadn't been closed right down in the workshop and was only on the safety catch.Yup, I used to drive horrifically dilapidated Transit vans which all had sturdy failsafe bonnet catch assemblies.
Once after the bonnet mustn't have been secured properly it started wobbling up and down on a fast road and I thought shit, it's gonna flip up and smash the windscreen! but of course it did no such thing. Phew.
It looks suspiciously like one of those (not all a fire safety hazard) Vauxhall Zafiras that often went up in flames.some pics of the last one
Wankel engine.My elder sister had a Mazda (rotary engine)
Yeah it was a bit shit.Wankel engine.
Fnar fnar
FULL STORY: https://www.wisn.com/article/amazon-delivery-driver-struck-by-amtrak-train-survived/38239454Amazon delivery driver struck by train can't believe he survived
An Amazon delivery driver said he's still in shock after an Amtrak train slammed into his truck, cutting it in half Wednesday.
"Yeah, it just, boom," Amazon driver Alexander Evans said. ...
It happened on River Valley Road in Ixonia in Jefferson County.
"What did you feel and hear when that train hit your truck?" WISN 12's Terry Sater asked him.
"Just air and the pressure. I felt the airbags. I didn't know what to feel, to be honest with you," Evans said. ...
He traced his route in red on a map, showing how the road parallels the track before the crossing, limiting a driver's view of the tracks.
"I just tried. I made a look as I was going down the hill to swerve, and I didn't see anything. He was on my left side," Evans said.
Evans said he's deaf in his left ear and didn't hear the horn at first. ...
There are no signals, lights or warning sounds at that crossing.
Evans said he feels something more needs to be done to alert drivers of oncoming trains.
The train hit him on his 33rd birthday.
Evans said he is still sore from the impact.