# Whizzing on the third (electrified) rail

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whizzing-on-the-third-electrified-rail/519882>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [December 3, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whizzing-on-the-third-electrified-rail/519882 "2009-12-03T19:04:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Ed\_Zotti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/fbc32d/32.png) [@Ed\_Zotti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ed_Zotti)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whizzing-on-the-third-electrified-rail/519882/41 "2010-04-17T21:07:04Z")

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Cecil has had further discussions with the Cook County medical examiner’s office about an apparent case of death-by-peeing. See his April 17 update at the end of:

[http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc20100304.php](http://chicago.straightdope.com/sdc20100304.php)

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**Author:** ![pdmarquardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a87d85/32.png) [@pdmarquardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pdmarquardt)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whizzing-on-the-third-electrified-rail/519882/42 "2013-07-10T17:27:39Z")

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Well, this was in the NY Post, so there’s at least a 40% chance that it’s true:

[http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/drunk\_mans\_dies\_after\_peeing\_on\_7AXR5nZq5OKApg9vuEQGlL](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/drunk_mans_dies_after_peeing_on_7AXR5nZq5OKApg9vuEQGlL)

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whizzing-on-the-third-electrified-rail/519882/43 "2013-07-11T02:29:09Z")

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The story’s carried in respectable venues, too.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whizzing-on-the-third-electrified-rail/519882/44 "2013-07-11T02:49:13Z")

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> [@pdmarquardt](#):
>
> Well, this was in the NY Post, so there’s at least a 40% chance that it’s true:
> 
> [http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/drunk\_mans\_dies\_after\_peeing\_on\_7AXR5nZq5OKApg9vuEQGlL](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/drunk_mans_dies_after_peeing_on_7AXR5nZq5OKApg9vuEQGlL)

> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#):
>
> The story’s carried in respectable venues, too.

Maybe I am parsing this too closely, but I don’t know if he was supposed to have been electrocuted _by_ pissing on the rail. He could have stopped to take a leak and had his foot or leg come in contact with the rail, for instance.

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**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whizzing-on-the-third-electrified-rail/519882/45 "2013-07-11T07:38:07Z")

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You can’t be electrocuted through the urine. There has to be other contact. Theoretically with a lot of salts and a steady stream you could get conductivity. I haven’t done the math yet, but, I don’t think a drunk person has a lot of conductive minerals in their pee.

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