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High-Voltage Dangers

Electricity is highly fluid, flowing to the ground through anything, such as a human body, that conducts current. According to the Tennessee Valley Authority, power companies spend thousands of dollars to make sure people and electric wires stay away from one another. However, dangerous situations, such as the severe thunderstorms of summer or the ice storms of winter, can develop. Following these tips for staying out of harm's way can help save many lives.

  1. Height Climbing and Electric Wires

    • The climbing of trees, steel towers or poles can bring you into direct contact with high voltage. Do not climb near a power line, whether it is to free a ball lodged in a tree that has a fallen power line or to try to move a downed line. Call a trained professional -- usually your power company -- and request assistance. One touch of a power line can cause injury or death.

    Cars and Powerlines

    • Touching a car that is in contact with a power line can be lethal. If you are driving, and you accidentally find yourself on one, the Tennessee Valley Authority advises you attempt to drive away from it. However, if your car won't move, do not try to force the issue. Call the electric company for help, and wait for assistance. However, if you must leave your car, do not touch the car and the ground at the same time.

    Power Stations

    • Be careful around power substations. The TVA warns that such a building contains potentially lethal high voltage equipment. Do not attempt to go inside for any reason. If you find that you have driven close to the station, leave the vicinity.

    TV Installation

    • Check the location of your TV antennas. If you find that your cable provider has installed them, or any satellite dishes -- within the distance that an electric wire could fall during a storm, call either the electric company or your provider, and request that they move the setup to a safer location. Otherwise, you could experience deadly electric shock one day while watching television.

    Cancer Risk

    • Living close to power lines is said by some to predispose children to childhood cancers, such as leukemia. A long-term study by the Childhood Cancer Research Group at the University of Oxford and Transco, studied 29,000 children with cancer in the United Kingdom from 1962 and 1995. Mapping how far each child's address at birth was from an overhead power line, and comparing with a control group of the same number of children without cancer in similar neighborhoods, found that those who lived within 250 feet of an overhead power line at birth, had a 70 percent increased risk of leukemia, while for children living from 250 to 2,000 feet away from power lines, increased risk dropped to 20 percent. Researchers noted the condition is still rare and that the statistical link may be due to socioeconomic factors in neighborhoods where high-voltage power lines tend to occur, rather than exposure to the power line.

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