This article was posted 06/24/2010 and is most likely outdated.

Street Zaps
 

 

Topic - Stray Voltage
Subject - StreetZaps

June 24, 2010
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StreetZaps

We first reported on Blair Sorrel’s organization called StreetZaps in our newsletter of November 13, 2009. She initiated this non-partisan initiative to reduce the year round risk of injury and fatality from contact voltage shocking or electrocution resulting from damaged or tampered wiring.

Thanks to her website and her tenacity, there is an increased awareness in cities around the country, and now “across the pond”. Streetzaps provides information about the hidden hazards of stray voltage and provides helpful hints on how to identify and avoid them.

 
Remembering Jackie
Image1By Elizabeth Forel, Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages, June 28, 2008

It was a cold and snowy day on January 9, 1999.  Things were different then for the carriage horse trade.  If you think they get away with murder now - it was worse then.
There was no activism to speak of - no one was advocating for the horses.  The Carriage Horse Action Committee had seized to exist in 1995 after losing the battle to keep the horses in the park.  
The ASPCA officers never bothered ordering the horses back to the stable when it was raining or snowing - ignoring the law that requires horses not to work during adverse weather conditions.  It had been snowing all day and the ground was wet.  
Jackie, a seven year old horse, was on her way back to Shamrock Stables, which was then located on the east side of Manhattan, when she stepped on a Con Ed service box cover and was electrocuted.  She kicked her driver in the head, collapsed and died. 
In the years that followed, the idea of being electrocuted from stray voltage emanating from a Con Ed box became more of a reality as dogs were electrocuted and a young woman was killed while walking her dogs a few years ago.
If you see any outdoor electrical fixtures that appear tampered or energized, please report them to http://www.streetzaps.com/shockreport.htm. If you’re in New York, be assured that whatever you map on Streetzaps.com, Con Edison monitors.
Read the Full Story.

For more information, visit www.Streetzaps.com

 

 

 

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Comments
  • HOW TO SLAY AN INVISIBLE DANGER. Blair Sorrel, Founder www.StreetZaps.com Contact voltage is a chronic hidden hazard that can readily victimize an unsuspecting dog, walker, or both. No dog lover could possibly observe a more horrifying scene than witnessing his beloved pet instantaneously maimed or tragically electrocuted. When you exercise your pooch, please exercise greater prudence. Common outdoor electrical and metal fixtures may shock or even kill your vulnerable dog. And depending upon the current, the walker will be bitten and like poor Aric Roman, suffer permanently. But you can, indeed, self-protect. Just start to adopt this simple strategy -- EYEBALL THE BLOCK, AND AVOID A SHOCK. Take a few seconds and make your trajectory toward generally safer, free standing, non-conductive surfaces, ie., plastic, wood, cardboard. Intuit your dog's cues and if it's resistant, change directions. Work site perimeters may be live so try to elude them. If necessary, switch sides of the street or your hands when leading to skirt hazards. If you traverse the same route, you may memorize locations of potential dangers. Carry your pooch when in doubt. Consider indoor restroom products like PottyPark when external conditions are chancy or RopeNGo's hardware-free leash and harness. And don't rely on dog booties as a palliative as they will actually put your pet at even greater risk since the dog can't tell you they're leaking! To learn to more, please see StreetZaps. A safer walk is yours year round if you are willing to open to your eyes and mind to it.

    Blair Sorrel
    Reply to this comment

  • I'm sure that someone has thought about using non-metallic covers or insulating the existing covers in some way.

    Bob Brock
    Reply to this comment

  • New York is where electricity started in the united states,althought up graded though the year's.There are still few compoiste con ed boxes and no overhead i could see.Witch i'm sure ad's to this problem of stray voltage.Lot and lot of rigid conductable pathways to stray!

    Colin Chisholm
    Reply to this comment


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