Public Safety: Overhead Power Lines
Overhead power lines can be confused with telephone lines but the difference is that they carry electricity between 230 and 400,000 volts. Contact with a 230 volt line can kill!
Lines may be hard to see at night or against a dark or very bright background. They are normally bare (not insulated). A common misconception is that rubber-soled shoes protect you from shocks – they do not.
Higher voltage lines normally have yellow ‘Danger of Death’ warning notices fitted to the poles or pylons but lower voltage lines may not be marked. At higher voltages electricity may jump short distances through the air (known as 'arcing'). This means you need not touch an overhead electric power line to get a fatal electric shock, if an implement that can conduct electricity is near the line e.g. a carbon fibre fishing rod. It is extremely dangerous to fly a kite beside overhead power lines.
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