A tourist was electrocuted near a Las Vegas Strip casino during a weekend rain storm.

CNN ^ | 18 August 2003

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- A tourist was electrocuted near a Las Vegas Strip casino during a weekend rain storm.

Rebecca Longhoffer, 39, of Louisville, Ky., was walking across a median near the Treasure Island hotel-casino late Saturday when she stepped on a wet traffic signal wiring box and collapsed, authorities said.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The box should have been grounded, in any case. Some contractor and some inspector are going to be on the wrong side of a law suit. Was this just a mistake or willful negligence?

[bedolido]

Definately on a HOT Streak!

[jwalburg]

Not wearing shoes? Had she lost even her shoes to the casino?

[PISANO]

Very sad.......four children have lost their mother.

[SlickWillard]

The victim was not wearing shoes, police Lt. Chuck Mangrum said. Longhoffer, a computer programmer and mother of four, was visiting Las Vegas with her fiance, who was playing in a billiards tournament. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Not to sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but there was a time when a woman with four children would be AT HOME WITH HER HUSBAND, not running barefoot through Las Vegas [of all places], in the rain, with her "fiancé."

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

That was my thought. Shouldn't have happened.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Not to sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but...

It does have the air of the "Demon Lover" morality tale to it, doesn't it?

[Hatteras]

Baby needs a new pair of shoes... c'monnnnnnnnn SEVEN!!!!

[buccaneer81]

We had two of these incidents in Central Ohio in the past few months. Both of the dead were small children in public places. The investigations showed old, worn insulation is very common in streetlamps and electric boxes. Keep your shoes on, and don't touch unless absolutely necessary.

[moyden2000]

She was from Kentucky.

[waterstraat]

There are not very many lucky people in Las Vegas.

[boris]

When I was a kid I saw a similar story in the Baltimore Sun: "Man presses crossing button and dog's lights go out."

In the rain, his master pushed the button and completed a circuit through the dog. The dog yelped, bit his master once, and died.

--Boris

[hoot2]

"The investigations showed old, worn insulation is very common in streetlamps and electric boxes. Keep your shoes on, and don't touch unless absolutely necessary. "

was the box in the median strip? was she "j-walking"?
sounds like a weak neutral n a missing ground wire.
there is so much "new construction" in vegas, its hard to believe "...old, worn insulation..."

[headsonpikes]

"Eight ball...side pocket."

[DEPUTYMAYTAG]

Shocking, simply shocking.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I'm not an electrician, but I'm mastered the "Time-Life" home wiring series. The box should have been grounded and the neutral and ground tied together at the main disconnect (fuse box). In the event or a hot to box short, the fuse/box would have blown. (220 circuits don't use a neutral, they still have a ground.) This bespeaks criminal negligence, things like this are not supposed to happen. BTW, at the company where I work, all mechanical (NOT electrical) engineers are obliged to be recertified in electrical safety every year.

I live in an older house, and when I moved in, half the sockets had hot and neutral reversed, or no ground connection, what have you. It is not at all hard to straighten out, but you have to track them down. The home inspector found them, so that motivated my "Time-Life" research. I've tugged my quota of Romex.

[Tamzee]

Lightning strikes, heads coming off, the occasional arsenic poisoning... We'd better watch our backs... and our Macs. Don't want anyone to realize WE're putting 2 and 2 and 3 and 1 and maybe more together....

Kay, I wedged a lightning rod into the heap of bungee-cords tying my head to my armpits... didn't factor in that all this hardware could leave me ZOT-able!

And careful about putting 2 and 2 and 3 and 1 together... sounds kinky and Chad could show up with his armadillos ;-)

[Pagey]

Hey, has Hillary blamed this incident on George W. Bush yet?I'm amazed she hasn't thrust responsibility upon him for this death.She must be slacking.Or maybe her husband told her to "just lay low" for a few days. We'll see.

[StriperSniper]

has Hillary blamed this incident on George W. Bush yet?

Yup, it was the fault of the infrastructure that the Bush administration has destroyed since they took office ruining everyting her and her husband left them. ;-)