{"id":1689,"date":"2026-06-13T16:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T16:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1689"},"modified":"2026-06-13T16:33:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T16:33:25","slug":"if-a-power-line-falls-on-your-car-do-not-get-out-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1689","title":{"rendered":"If a power line falls on your car, do not get out. Here’s why."},"content":{"rendered":"
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TEMPE, AZ \u2014 Monsoon season brings a danger that can turn deadly in seconds: downed power lines.<\/p>\n

Read more WATCH: Valley Team USA fans celebrate win, look ahead to other major sports games this weekend<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s a scenario most drivers never think about until it happens: A storm rolls through. A power line falls on your car. What do you do?<\/p>\n

Salt River Project invited ABC15 to its Tempe Service Center near Kyrene and Elliot roads for a hands-on demonstration. What crews showed us goes against every instinct you may have.<\/p>\n

Monsoon downbursts can produce 60 to 70 mph gusts with little warning. Those winds can snap power poles, dropping live wires onto the road and sometimes onto vehicles.<\/p>\n

If that happens to you, SRP says the safest place to be is exactly where you are.<\/p>\n

“The safest thing you can do is stay in the vehicle,” said Clint Bragg, a senior safety specialist with SRP. “The vehicle is insulated with the tires on the road, so it’s going to protect you.”<\/p>\n

Stay inside and call 911. SRP crews respond first, and their first job is to cut the power.<\/p>\n

There is one exception. If your car catches fire or you see smoke, you need to get out. But how you exit matters.<\/p>\n

“You want to jump from the vehicle,” Bragg said. “Not as far as you can. Just far enough so you’re not still touching the vehicle.”<\/p>\n

Read more 11 people shot, 1 killed in Texas mass shooting; suspect is found dead<\/a><\/p>\n

Then keep your feet together and hop.<\/p>\n

“You’re going to want to bunny hop until you get about 30 feet away,” Bragg said. “Then you can walk to safety.”<\/p>\n

Electricity spreads through the ground like ripples in water. Each ripple carries a different voltage. Separate your feet, and the current finds a path. That path is your body.<\/p>\n

The same physics explains a warning that surprises many parents: never hold a child’s hand while escaping a downed line.<\/p>\n

“Kids want you to hold their hands when they feel scared,” Bragg said. “That will create a circuit through your children to you, and you don’t want that.”<\/p>\n

Instead, make it a game. A bunny hop. A shuffle. Whatever keeps their feet together could save their lives and yours.<\/p>\n

There is one last thing SRP wants every driver to remember: A downed power line can look completely dead, but it rarely is. Live wires almost never spark the way they do in the movies.<\/p>\n

If you come across a downed line on foot, stay back at least 100 feet and assume it’s still energized.<\/p>\n

Read more WATCH: Rudy\u2019s Bar-B-Q job helping 88-year-old Scottsdale man stay young and active<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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