Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Man Electrocuted While Urinating On The Third Rail

That's what he gets for believing the Mythbusters.
Police reviewed CTA surveillance video and determined he had climbed down to the tracks to urinate when he fell onto the third rail, according to a press release from the Evanston Police Department.

One of the two people the man was with ran down stairs to the booth at the entrance at the station and alerted the security guard on duty to the situation, Lukidis said. The security guard then called Evanston Police and Fire officials.

A Monday autopsy found McKee was electrocuted and ruled his death an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Okay, so he didn't quite kill himself by peeing on the third rail, but this was covered by Mythbusters.
 Urinating on the electric third rail of a train track can cause electrocution.
busted

Although it is possible to electrocute yourself by urinating on a third rail, you would have to stand unrealistically close to the rail to do it. In most instances, a urine stream would break into droplets before making contact with the rail.

(This concept was tested with an electric fence in episode 14 and that version of the myth was confirmed. Distance is the key.)

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