light pole electrcution - case acquited!

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charlie tuna

Senior Member
Location
Florida
dade county has contracted a ten year deal to replace all the bus shelters. the power was turned off to all existing shelters five years ago when a 12 year old boy was electricuted. they found the shelter "ungrouded" and the shelter's frame energized by an ungrounded conductor supplying the shelter. this was due to improper mounting of the ballast feeding the lighted sign they found problems in other shelters, they were wired by un-licensed personnel from a advertising company. no license and no inspections---on county property.
why do these insidences continue to kill people throughout our country??? the defense attorneys argueda lightning strike - not shoddy wiring - killed the boy... was a lesson learnt???
 
charlie

charlie

Senior Member
Location
Indianapolis
Re: light pole electrcution - case acquited!

This reminds me of the joke, "What do you call the scene where two attorneys were found drowned?" Answer, "A good start."

The reality is though that a defense attorney is required to do the best job he can to protect his scum bag client. If the prosecution does not have the proper witnesses (expert and otherwise), proper documentation, preservation of evidence, etc., then his client will be found innocent. That is the way our law works and I kind of like the idea of being innocent until proven guilty. :D
 
jxofaltrds

jxofaltrds

Inspector Mike®
Location
Mike P. Columbus Ohio
Occupation
ESI, PI, RBO
Re: light pole electrcution - case acquited!

Charlie

"innocent until proven guilty"

Everyone says it that way.

It should be: innocent "unless" proven guilty.

The first statement presumes guilt.???

Just a pet peeve of mine.(JD want-to-be).

Mike P.
 
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rob1kva

Member
Re: light pole electrcution - case acquited!

You know what they say,....at the end of the world there will be only 2 things left on earth cockroaches & lawyers.
 
charlie b

charlie b

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Lockport, IL
Occupation
Retired Electrical Engineer
Re: light pole electrcution - case acquited!

Originally posted by jxofaltrds:"Innocent until proven guilty." Everyone says it that way. It should be: innocent "unless" proven guilty. The first statement presumes guilt.???
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You are welcome to your pet peeves, as are we all. My wife?s is someone asking ?Are you OK,? when someone else has obviously just tripped or sustained some injury. Her reaction is ?Of course I?m not OK, I just tripped, you m*r*n!.?

But I beg to disagree with your views regarding the suitability of the word ?until.? If in fact guilt is never proven, then the ?until? never comes about, and ?innocence? remains intact. More to the point, what remains intact is the ?presumption of innocence.? The phrase "Innocent until proven guilty" is a shorthand version of our actual right, the right of being "PRESUMED innocent until proven guilty."

Regards,
Charlie.

p.s. You inadvertently stumbled into one of my pet peeves: People who want us to change our use of common phrases, on the basis of having a different interpretation of the words. Here?s an example. I have heard some people declare that we should stop using the phrase ?seat belt.? Their reasoning is that the belt does not come into contact with the person?s ?seat,? but rather lays across their lap. They suggest we replace the phrase with ?lap belt.? I disagree. My reasoning is that the word ?seat? refers to the car seat. The belt assures that the person?s body remains in the car seat, in the event of a collision.
 
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racraft

Senior Member
Re: light pole electrcution - case acquited!

Charlie b,

You raise an interesting point.

The term is in fact "lap belt", referring to the portion that goes across your lap. The other portion is called "shoulder belt" because it goes across your choulder.

The automobile manufacturers note the difference, because some cars still have lap belts with no shoulder bels in certain seating positions, and because seat belts for many years were only lap belts.

Indeed, to the average person the term seat belt is the term of choice.
 
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batch

Member
Location
Florida
Re: light pole electrcution - case acquited!

Charlie,

I know its been a couple days but do you have a link to this story?

TIA
 
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charlie tuna

Senior Member
Location
Florida
Re: light pole electrcution - case acquited!

batch,
this information about the solar powered bus bench purchase was in the feb 3rd miami herald - it was five years ago that the 12 year old boy got killed during a rain storm when he touched the frame of the bus shelter---it was not grounded and they found a ballast in an advertisement section that had fallen down and was touching the open contacts of the ballast which energized the shelter. money talks! eller, the company who was responsible to install and maintain these shelters had hired unlicensed and untrained people to do the wiring. no permit or inspection was required from the county. county shelter, on county property, county sub-contractor---------no permit-no license-no sense!
 
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charlie tuna

Senior Member
Location
Florida
Re: light pole electrcution - case acquited!

i heard another death from ungrounded public utilities----new york or new jersey--a women was killed when she touched a light pole, her feet were wet from walking in the snow!!!! this will turn into another cover up i'm sure!!!!
 
iwire

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
Re: light pole electrcution - case acquited!

A Dog just got electrocuted by an energized manhole cover here in Charlestown, MA

POCO came out and found an "abandoned" (their spokespersons words) feed that had energized the cover. It is fixed now and their is nothing to worry about. :roll:

After mishap, NStar is urged to hunt down any hot spots

NStar officials have said the likely source was an old underground electrical service line to a now-demolished house.

They said injury from stray electrical currents is rare, though the NStar trouble shooter had earlier acknowledged that hot spots are not uncommon in the winter, when the ground is often soaked with water and road salt that could conduct electricity. Salt has also been known to eat through wiring and allow current to electrify nearby metal fixtures.
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This is quote shows they are certainly ready to deny any responsibility

NStar spokeswoman Christina McKenna said the company is working to track down the property's former owners to find out why electrical service was never canceled at the site.
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The meter reader never noticed the building was gone?

NStar did not notice not getting a monthly bill, unless someone was paying the electric bill for a demolished building. Yeah right. :roll:
 
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charlie tuna

Senior Member
Location
Florida
Re: light pole electrcution - case acquited!

i have been following these electricutions and they are common across the country! why? because we as an industry have not assured the public that the surfaces of electrical apperatus will not kill them! do you unplug your refrigerator before getting a beer? most of these incidents occur after unqualified personnel change the original wiring for what-ever reason. it's tricky! even for a qualified electrician to determine proper grounding on a street light. when you look into a pole thats been sitting on the side of a highway for twenty years---everything is under the dirt and grime--green ground wires (which is the source)(which is the stupid ground rod)and are they in continous back to the source?? like the incident in my first post, it was cut and dry in the papers--the bus bench was not grounded from the service and the ballast's secondary wire came in contact with the metal frame of the shelter--the shelter was "hot" at the secondary voltage of the sign ballast--probibly 750+ volts. the kid was bar footed and standing in water when he touched the bus shelter. now, here comes the court case---attorney probibly asks the medical examiner "can you say for sure that lightning did not kill this boy?"---------hay lightning's unpredictable right!
case closed---but another tradgic death by "ungrounded equipment"!!!!!!!!!
 
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