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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Jan 15, 2015 12:59:07 GMT 12
This man not only gets the “Dumbf**k of the Week” Award, but as a bonus he also becomes eligible for a Darwin Award!from the Whangarei Leader....Man electrocuted at Northland campground12:31PM — Thursday, 15 January 2015A MAN has died after being electrocuted as he tried to cut power to a noisy caravan, police say.
The 30-year-old Hamilton man was camping with friends at Northland's Whangaruru Beach Front Camp, when he reportedly became annoyed with noise from a stereo in a nearby caravan, Northland police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said.
At about 12.30am yesterday, the man left his campsite, telling friends he was going to deal with the issue.
He was found dead by the occupant of the caravan at about 3am.
Kennett said it appeared the man had tried to use pliers to cut a power cord leading to the caravan.
His death has been referred to the coroner.www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/northland/whangarei-leader/65068436/man-electrocuted-at-northland-campground
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Post by baronbeeza on Jan 15, 2015 13:44:19 GMT 12
Now tell me alcohol was not involved ! I have had drinks with a Darwin awardee,- he lived but it had to have been the alcohol that both caused it and then saved him. I will have to look it up again. Hmmm, just realised I knew him in Darwin about 15 years ago. Sometimes you have to wonder if these 'good ideas' may not be that great a plan afterall darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid1999-18.htmlI knew Gordon in 1998-99 so did wonder about those dates. I see now that one of the medical team has confirmed it happened in 1988. Hmmmm, well it certainly didn't seem to slow his drinking down any. Maybe the true awardee has to die if they are to ever cease trying. |
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Post by jonesy on Jan 15, 2015 14:10:29 GMT 12
What a winner! Ive got a tee shirt with the following on it: " Too much Emergency Medicine prevents Natural Selection"
Darwinism is a great way to thin out the population of imbeciles....pretty sure to get the award it has to be a fatality.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Jan 15, 2015 21:53:51 GMT 12
The original news story has been considerably updated.
Click on the link at the bottom of the story to read the updated version (which includes a photograph).
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Post by Luther Moore on Jan 16, 2015 3:41:00 GMT 12
I sure hope his family doesn't read all this. He must of been tired and frustrated and just acted in a fit of rage without thinking it through.
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Post by baronbeeza on Jan 16, 2015 9:02:19 GMT 12
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Post by jonesy on Jan 16, 2015 11:25:26 GMT 12
Now that I have fully read and understood what happened I do feel sympathy for the guy and his family. But surely the way to deal with it would be to call the campground staff and let them deal with it?
Just thinking tho...this guy was a lighting tech (presumably with a fairly good understanding of the concept of electricity and its associated dangers), are we too quick to assume alcohol played a part in this? I have a limited knowledge of electricity (actually it scares the crap outa me!) and theres NO WAY I'd cut a power cord unless I'd made sure it was isolated..
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Jan 16, 2015 11:41:52 GMT 12
I am a qualified electrician (although I haven't worked in the trade for money since the mid-1970s), and I definitely wouldn't cut through a power cable with a pair of pliers without ensuring both ends of it were disconnected first (and I did my apprenticeship at a place where more than 50% of our work was “live”, with appropriate safety precautions).
Now if you cut through a live power cable, there is a slight chance the pliers' cutters could come into contact with the neutral or earth wire first (I'm talking single-phase, which is what this cable most likely would have been), then if the cutters cut into the live phase while still in contact with either the neutral or earth wire, you may get away with it (although the flash may blind you), but if you cut into the live phase first, then you bridge out the voltage potential between that live phase and earth. And that is a real DUMB thing to do, because you are either going to end up dead (most likely), or horribly burnt.
Either way, you won't ever do it again.
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