NYC subway train killing guy after being pushed onto tracks - poll

Looking only at the photos, and reading the accompanying article, it appears that - by that point in time - any attempt at rescue would have been extremely dangerous... possibly fatal for the rescuer. Those trains move quickly, very close to the platform, and there is absolutely no room for the slightest margin of error in judgment or timing. From the photo, I'd guess that the closest people in the crowd were probably at least 2-3 seconds away. Yet, 66% of the poll responders said they would try to help from the edge. (NY'ers have a reputation (deserved or not) for not getting involved, and this crowd did nothing to cast doubt upon that rep.) By the time a would-be rescuer would have gotten there, when they bent over to help there's an excellent chance they would have been decapitated!

The sentiment expressed by that 66% is admirable, but the photog was under no ethical, legal or moral obligation to jeopardize his own life. The headline probably would have read, "NYC subway kills two". (Personally, I probably would have been safely ejected from the pit by the reactive force exerted by expelled fecal matter when I saw the train coming)

As for the 3rd rail question... as I recall, 3rd rails are almost always at least partially, covered (generally the top and outside edge). This is a safety measure to try to keep all (except those with a serious death wish) from accidental electrocution. Pax...

eye95 said:

Mythbusters busted this one. Apparently the stream isn't solid enough to conduct the electricity. That did not stop me from telling my students that there were three ways to learn: 1) Listen to others relate their experiences. 2) Watch others make mistakes. 3) Piss on the electric fence yourself. The three ways are listed in decreasing order of pain to the student.

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Electric fences have about ten times the voltage of third rails.

MAC702 said:

Electric fences have about ten times the voltage of third rails.

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Consider the amperage.

Grapeshot said:

Consider the amperage.

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I'm an electrician.

The voltage is what pushes the amperage. What amperage gets pushed will depend on the voltage of the source, and the conductive value of the, uh, "stream."

Washington, DC metro's subway is about 750 Volts. A typical electric fence is 6-8,000 Volts. It is very possible that the former would not have sufficient voltage to conduct through a certain very weak electrolyte, when the fence absolutely can and probably will. But the fence simply cannot supply the amperage to do anything more than shock the, well, piss out of you. IF a third-rail had sufficient conductive path, it most certainly can supply far more amperage than is necessary to kill.

And, the problem with the "stream," as the Mythbusters discovered, was that it wasn't continuous, but an array of individual droplets. While the liquid was highly conductive, the gaps were not, requiring higher voltage to push the current across those gaps. Air is a decent insulator. Good thing, or you'd get zapped walking past an outlet!

Lightening and sparks can cross air gaps because the air has been turned into a plasma, making it a conductor


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