# The Shocking Truth about Australian phones ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 29, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040 "2004-08-29T02:37:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/1 "2004-08-29T02:37:35Z")
[In this column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040827.html) Unca Cec makes the claim that “in the early 1980s, 60 to 80 Australians were injured by lightning each year while on the phone, a rate roughly 45 times higher than the comparable rate in the U.S. At the time Australian phones weren’t connected to the house electrical ground. Now they are”. I think I’d remember if phone techs suddenly came around to every house in Australia (maybe 5 million or so) and fitted grounding wires to their phone systems. Not to mention hearing about more than one person a week being killed by lightning on the phone - I mean here in Sydney we hear on the news about a single kidnapped child in Melbourne, 1,000km away. Does anyone have any idea whether this is based on anything factual? Or just some warped reportage he picked up from some US source? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/2 "2004-08-29T11:03:18Z")
I agree absolutely **AndrewT**. If there had been 60-80 deaths per annum, I think it might have got a bit of publicity. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/3 "2004-08-29T20:16:15Z")
(And here I thought this was going to be a thread about how the old Aussie rotary dial phones went counterclockwise.) The media can have glaring blindness about certain common events. In the US, a couple thousand people a day die from cigarette smoking related illnesses. That’s not news. A girl getting murdered in Colorado years ago is still news to this day. This is especially true that the Murdoch-ization of “news” has spread worldwide. Basically, if a lot of people die a certain way all the time, no one in the media cares in the least. People have distortions of fear. Nevermind the actual stats. The media goes after the fear. That’s where the A$ is. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/4 "2004-08-29T20:31:33Z")
Well, the column says “injured”, not “killed”. I doubt if every injury in the Northern Territory gets reported in Sydney. I agree, though, that it’s strange that you don’t remember any large-scale phone modernization. It would be nice if Cecil would favour us with his comments. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/5 "2004-08-29T20:34:38Z")
Isn’t all you Aussies know about is herding kangaroo and koala bears, and newfangled things like electricity puzzles you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/6 "2004-08-29T20:55:51Z")
That general figure of injuries in Australia due to lightning strikes near phones is available on multiple sites by Googling. I haven’t been able to find the origin as yet. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/7 "2004-08-30T01:22:08Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > (And here I thought this was going to be a thread about how the old Aussie rotary dial phones went counterclockwise.) Not the ones I used … ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/8 "2004-08-30T01:23:31Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > Isn’t all you Aussies know about is herding kangaroo and koala bears, and newfangled things like electricity puzzles you? 😉 At least we know how to fill out the “Location” field on SDMB, unlike folks from wherever you hail from. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/9 "2004-08-30T06:59:35Z")
[Information supplied by Emergency Management Australia.](http://www.ses.vic.gov.au/CA256AEA002F0EC7/OrigDoc/~62E6ECFFC32C4D4CCA256AF4002AE23D?OpenDocument&1=10-Listing~&2=-Safety+tips~&3=0-Lightning+Action+Guide~) > [@](#): > > Lightning Action Guide > DANGER DURING THUNDERSTORMS > > Each year in Australia lightning claims up to ten lives and causes over 100 injuries. Up to 80 of those injuries happen when people use telephones during thunderstorms and receive an electric shock, hearing damage, or burns when lightning strikes telephone wires in their area. Take these precautions before and during thunderstorms: ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/10 "2004-08-31T01:20:50Z")
Well if that’s so then Cecil’s claim that the number of Australians injured by lightning on the phone reduced since the 80s is incorrect! ---
**Author:** ![Felius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a183cd/32.png) [@Felius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Felius)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/11 "2004-08-31T05:35:32Z")
I’m in Tasmania (the island state hanging off the bottom of mainland Australia, for you 'merkins). I saw someone get shocked by using a phone during a storm, in either 1990 or 1991. I just happened to be facing them at the time when I saw a flash from the handset, followed almost instantaneously by what looked like a tiny ball of light travelling from one of their bare feet across a carpeted floor into a heater. The heater was one of those off-peak heatbanks that is full off bricks and bolted to the floor. The phone was wrecked and the person who received the shock suffered mild damage to their eardrum. They scorched it basically, leaving them with temporary hearing loss. I don’t think they suffered any permanent damage. It was a pretty impressive sight, though I’m not so eager to see it repeated that I’ve ever considered using a phone during a lightening storm since. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Call\_me\_Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Call\_me\_Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Call_me_Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/12 "2004-08-31T07:34:32Z")
> [@AndrewT](#): > > Not the ones I used … That’s either a reference to a Simpsons [episode](http://www.snpp.com/episodes/2F13.html) or a commonly held mistake about the [coriolis effect](http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadCoriolis.html) causing water to drain in different directions in the N. and S. hemispheres. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/13 "2004-08-31T14:07:19Z")
You needn’t go so far afield, **Call me Frank** , since Cecil Himself has addressed the clockwise/counterclockwise drains: [Do bathtubs drain counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_161.html) **ftg** was obviously making a joke ref to the old myth. ---
**Author:** ![Call\_me\_Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Call\_me\_Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Call_me_Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/14 "2004-09-01T03:47:49Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > You needn’t go so far afield, **Call me Frank** , since Cecil Himself has addressed the clockwise/counterclockwise drains: [Do bathtubs drain counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_161.html) > **ftg** was obviously making a joke ref to the old myth. Strange. I must not have read that one, as I’m usually better at recalling what **Cecil** has enlightened us about… ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/15 "2004-09-01T16:56:44Z")
It was that very same column which first brought me to the Dope. Ah, such sweet, innocent days. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/16 "2004-09-02T00:33:10Z")
> [@](#): > > If there had been 60-80 deaths per annum, I think it might have got a bit of publicity. Nobody is claiming 60-80 **deaths** per annum. The statement was “60 to 80 Australians were **injured**. I see no reason why there would be any publicity about hearing damage and burns. ---
**Author:** ![sangfroid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@sangfroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sangfroid)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/17 "2004-09-02T01:07:57Z")
So what about cordless phones? Perhaps a SDSAB member could expound on whether you would just get a loud noise, or a ruptured or burned eardrum, or nothing at all? Air is a poor conductor, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/18 "2004-09-02T01:16:53Z")
> [@AndrewT](#): > > … > > Does anyone have any idea whether this is based on anything factual? Or just some warped reportage he picked up from some US source? :dubious: THere’s ab book by Howard Jacobson abut an extended trip he (and Aussie wife) made to various places in Oz, in which he refers to reading some official or semi-official advice leaflet or tourist advice book - certianly on originating in Oz. He reads the bit about telephones and thinks “Eek, OK, I had heard about snaky things and spidery things but I had never previously thought of the humble telphone in the hotel room as being an object of danger”. He and wife did go to some pretty out-of-the way places, so all I mean is it coudl well have been the case in tiny townships in the middle of nowhere. Not sure when it was published - I reckon approx 10 to 15 years ago. He adored Oz ad I don’t at all think he was making that up to make fun of it. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/19 "2004-09-02T16:21:44Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m in Tasmania (the island state hanging off the bottom of mainland Australia, for you 'merkins). Didn’t that used to be called Sri Lanka? Just kidding. Take it easy! ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shocking-truth-about-australian-phones/262040/20 "2004-09-02T16:23:05Z")
In the 1970’s I was in the Canadian militia as a signalman. I spent a few months working with the regular Army at CFB Petawawa, which has large manuever and exercise areas. There was a military phone system which provided service to various points in the manuever areas, and which was pretty old-fashioned. It had a manual switchboard, the phone wires were two strands of uninsulated wire, often tacked to convenient trees (they were replacing the trees with regular telephone poles while I was there), and there were lightning protectors installed wherever there was a phone connected to the system. One of the regular tasks was to drive the lines checking the lightneng protectors and replace the burnt carbon blocks if they had been burned by a lightning strike. I suspect that some parts of Australia may still have phone systems of this vintage.