Terryc wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Shock as in muscular contraction in the foot?

Yes. Enough to knock you to the ground and expose you to a higher
gradient. One that will be fatal.

All you can really do is wear non-conducing footwear and hope any effect
is minimal and that the safety equipment trips the line very quickly.

As a realistic worry, probably lightning strike is far more likely.

Could be, but nonconductive shoes quickly turn conductive when wet.
IME, most power lines get downed in storms. Sometimes they get downed
when cars hit the utility pole; but again, most accidents happen during
storms as well.

Based on that, I'd venture to say that much of the time that a power
line comes down, the ground around it is wet. Consequently caution is
indeed called for.

jak