Dang. Bummer.
Pimentel says Messenger apparently urinated into a roadside ditch but didn’t see the live wire. The urine stream likely served as a conductor, allowing the electricity to reach his body.
…Too soon?
Thanks to Slog tipper Boneyard.
Lindy West was born an unremarkable female baby in Seattle, Washington. The former Stranger writer covered movies, movie stars, exclamation points, lady stuff, large frightening fish, and much, much more.... More by Lindy West
Didn’t a mythbusters episode disprove this?
Not too soon, too insensitive. That’s a crappy way to die. You suck.
@1: I was gonna say! Apparently Jamie and Adam have some splainin’ (and peeing) to do!
Funniest thing all day!!!
Can’t see the video, but I can only assume it’s an advertisement for the funnest game in the whole wide world. =)
Where was this guy when you need him?
@1, @3, according to this they tried it again with an electric fence that was closer to the peer (peeer?) and got shocked. The original experiment failed because the stream breaks up, but that’s from some distance away.
Death by urine is ALWAYS FUNNY!
“It’s funny because I don’t know them”-Homer Simpson
I feel a burning sensation when I urinate
Why do I have the feeling he was drunk at the time?
Mythbusters: http://xkcd.com/397/
I thought that they disproved this could happen this on MythBusters?
Regarding the Mythbusters episode, let me remind you that there’s quite a difference between an electric fence and an overhead powerline.
Also, my sympathy for the man is somewhat mitigated by speculation as to his circumstances: you drive your car in to a stationary object, then don’t notice the live power line before you go to empty your bladder? My guess is he was shithouse drunk.
Fellas, always remember to swing your dick back and forth when peeing into a ditch to ensure any contact with power lines is transitory.
@15 – you should embroider that on a pillow!
I guess this means even more jugs of pee.
@15- I’m tattooing it on my arm.
My guess is he was shithouse drunk, decided to take a pee, then fell down into the ditch where he was promptly electrocuted. Mythbusters showed you need to be really close to the source of electricity, since the urine stream is just a bunch of separate droplets after a few inches distance from the body. Doesn’t matter that the powerline has more juice than an electric fence if there’s no connection to the body.
@19 – Agree he probably was drunk, but the article says:
“burn marks indicated the way the electricity traveled through Messenger’s body.”
Translation – a wienie roast.
The Mythbusters I saw was peeing on the literal “third rail” and the stream of urine was not continual all the way to the ground. This guy might have pissed on the line, formed a puddle and been standing in it when it contacted bith himself and the live-wire.
I still remember seeing someone pee into the electric socket in one of the the boys rooms at my elementary school. I remember seeing it spark and sizzle. I was shocked, but he wasn’t.
My guess is that the current was high enough to arc across the drops of urine.
@23 has it right. Downed power lines could well carry anywhere from 600-40,000 volts.
Worst Final Destination sequel EVER!