CTA Tattler

burnt penis = bad news

Your nerdy daughter is correct :p

This was actually part of an episode in Mythbusters!

The fence citation referred to, and explained, 220 AC power. The CTA runs on much stronger 600 DC power. Might there be different results from this different power source?

Anyone else thinking of Ren & Stimpy right now?

Mythbusters on Discovery Channel did this experiment and called it BUSTED.

Yeah, I saw that episode of Mythbusters too. So one of you *other* guys bringing it up want to be the one to prove it?

Wow! Pretty nasty pic! I had to delete tha one from the history of this family computer haha.

While there was not proof that the person whizzed on the third rail, there is a famous case of Lee v. CTA, where a drunk trespassed on the Ravenswood tracks at Kedzie and was electrocuted, while taking a whiz. The discourse on premises liability law is probably beyond most of you, but the bottom line is that the CTA was found liable. See http://www.kentlaw.edu/classes/rbrill/TortsFall2006Day/CoursePages/Course_docs/Supp_material/lee_new.html
SO THIS IS NOT AN URBAN MYTH.

On the other hand, when I was working at a hospital burn center in NYC in the early 1980s we had a hobo admitted who had allegedly pissed on the third rail, been electricuted and fell onto the tracks. He was badly burned and died of his injuries. Was pissing on the tracks a red herring and he actually lost his balance, fell on the tracks and was burned (including his penis)?

When I said "the person" in the preceding post, I meant Mr. Lee.

Hilarious!

jackonthebus;

The lawsuit says he entered the restricted area to take a whizz. Since he's dead and couldn't testify that's a bit of a stretch.

"The following facts were adduced at trial. Plaintiff's decedent, Sang Yeul Lee (Lee), a 46-year-old Korean immigrant who was unable to read English, attended a party on the evening of October 21, 1977. On his way home, Lee entered a CTA right-of-way at the intersection of Kedzie Avenue and the Ravenswood railway line in Chicago, apparently, in order to urinate."

Apparently in order to urinate. Nothing about him urinating. He came in contact with the third rail and died. There's no evidence that he actually urinated. Just that he "might" have been considering it.

So...I'll stay with Myth busted.

payne hertz (and Lee's you know what did, too):

Reflected in the appellate court opinion at 205 Ill.App.3d 163:
"The decedent's pants zipper was open, and his penis was exposed. The pathology report listed the immediate cause of death as electrocution."
This would seem to be sufficient circumstantial evidence of what he was trying to do. Maybe you can ask the medical examiner for a more detailed report.

burned penis on the tattler and fish penis on Grey's last night.... what's going on in this world?!

Jackonthebus
A) after reviewing the case, no evidence points to the urine electrocuting him. Right before your quote:

"The decedent's body was found on the elevated (“L”) tracks located on the CTA's Ravenswood line at or near 4700 North Kedzie Avenue. John Costantini, a Chicago Fire Department paramedic field officer, testified that the decedent lay perpendicular to the northwest-bound CTA tracks, his head pointing north. The decedent's feet were near the third rail, pointing in its direction."

B) Mythbusters already debunked the myth:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MythBusters_(season_1)#Episode_3_.E2.80.94_.22Barrel_of_Bricks.2C_Urinating_on_the_Third_Rail.2C_Eel_Skin_Wallet.22

C) Way to patronize everyone by saying "The discourse on premises liability law is probably beyond most of you" and citing law cases in a non-law setting.

The Straight Dope in the Chicago Reader dealt with this question back in 1977.

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_222b.html

Mat, you didn't read the beginning of my post:
"While there is no proof that [Lee] whizzed on the third rail..."
However, it is not urban myth that if you whiz near the third rail and come in contact with it, you will be electrocuted.
In the original post, since the guy stepped out the car door to do his business, if he had fallen from the small platform outside the door (assuming that it was the door between the cars, since it was later said that he pulled the red knob), and fell out and was killed either hitting the third rail or was run over, would he be any less dead?

But I did read the end of your post where you state: "SO THIS IS NOT AN URBAN MYTH." Guess what? Being electrocuted by urine IS an urban myth.

There was no discourse on people being electrocuted by clumsiness and stepping on the rail while urinating. This was SOLELY about the urine being able to electrocute people.

I personally don't care what the original thread was about. There are too many people out there who after too many drinks and reading this might be tempted to check out whether the story is a myth or not.

To them I say: DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

Don't worry about what is in the written legal record. It is in your own best interest to presume that ANY CONNECTION between you and a DC current with enough umph to push a fully loaded 8-car train is not something you want to get close to. FOR ANY REASON.

Here a a few behaviors besides peeing on the 3rd rail you might want to avoid:

1) Hopping down on the edge of the rail platform, swinging your legs, while waiting for an incoming train. Presuming you don't think the legless look will be in this season.

2) Jumping down onto the tracks because the wind blew your paperback book or homework on the tracks. (Tell the customer assistant about it instead.) You not only have to worry about the 3rd rail but the possibility of an unseen oncoming train.

3) Using the ADA contact strip as a mime's "balance beam", while some might think the results would be nature's natural defense against mimes, this is still really stupid.

4) Crossing down from one end of the platform, down to track level, over across the tracks, and up the other end. Now which one of these is the third rail?

5) Walking down the length of the Subway or Elevated tracks except as directed in an emergency.

You're probably thinking that no one would be so stupid as to do any of these things. Yeah, I used to think so too.

If you are smart enough to be reading this, you are way to smart to do any of these behaviors intentionally.

Peter, Chief Editor and Spelling Wrecker
The Peter Files Blog of Comedy, Satire, Jokes, Parody and Commentary

I was waiting for the orange line train at state/lake when i noticed an older guy with a shopping bag sitting on the edge of the platform.

Now this isn't a good idea anytime, but especially since red line trains were being temporarily rerouted through the area, it was plain madness.

Then he did what I couldn't believe. He jumped out on the southbound track, took a few hops over both 3rd rails and hopped up on the northbound platform.

I nearly had a stroke watching this and didn't think to capture it with my cam fone.

I wish he'd just walked downstairs and up again like the lady before him who realized that she was on the wrong side.

uumm, deepkid, did he have is bag with him?

he sure the heck did.

you can't walk downstairs and up again without paying twice.