# Shopping cart question - dangling wire between front wheels **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 9, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-cart-question-dangling-wire-between-front-wheels/1009994 "2024-11-09T19:47:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 13
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-cart-question-dangling-wire-between-front-wheels/1009994/13 "2024-11-10T11:58:45Z")
> [@chela](#): > > I know what it is a sensor that will detect when the cart reaches a no go zone boundary for theft prevention of the cart and presumably groceries. Think invisible fences Probably not. Those are usually connected to a wheel lock. So when the device detects the fence it locks the one wheel it’s attached to. The whole device looks something like a plastic fender or cuff surrounding about half of one wheel. The sensor / antenna is built into the device. **[Grocery store cart wheel lock - Google Image Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=grocery+store+cart+wheel+lock&source=hp&oq=grocery+store+cart+wheel+lock&sclient=img)**. If it was a separate flimsy wire, people would simply cut or break them off first _then_ steal the cart which would no longer detect the fence since its antenna was absent. IMO the folks claiming this is a static dissipater are correct. The tendency to build up static electricity depends on temperature, humidity, floor material, cart wheel material, and customer clothing & shoe material. The first 4 items are local to each store. As a result, some stores in some areas are prone to it, and others are not. I’ve never been static-shocked by anything here in Florida. It used to happen to me routinely in St. Louis, mostly in winter. So it makes sense that some people have no idea this is an issue and have never seen these things while for other people it’s a bigger deal and dissipaters are becoming commonplace in their area. FYI here’s a thread I started a few months ago asking questions on the topic of static shocks in the wild. I learned a few things from folks there and you might too: > [@Static Electric Shocks: Then vs. Now](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-electric-shocks-then-vs-now/1002793): > > I was making a comparison in another thread between various routine mild discomforts and receiving a static electric shock from e.g. a doorknob as we all have done. At which point I noticed it seems to have been many years since I’d experienced a static shock. Just my perception, or actual reality? If reality, what’s different now versus 20-50 years ago? Different climates or different interior furnishings or ??? Synthetic versus natural fiber carpets or hard floors or ??? What say you? Do … In which one person mentions Wal\*Mart shopping carts as their big source of static shocks. And in which another provides the remedy for impending shocks: > [@Static Electric Shocks: Then vs. Now](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/static-electric-shocks-then-vs-now/1002793/22): > > If you think you’re about to get a shock, take something metal out of your pocket (a key, or coin, or something), and use that to touch the surface. It’s not the current that hurts, it’s the heat from the arc. If the arc hits the key instead of your skin, no problem. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shopping-cart-question-dangling-wire-between-front-wheels/1009994)._