> poses a serious danger to all living things near the line That is always the case for the various failure modes of any high voltage line (and all the related

> poses a serious danger to all living things near the line That is always the case for the various failure modes of any high voltage line (and all the related equipment). That said, you have it exactly backwards. Above ground lines are much easier to inadvertently come into contact with. Once faulted the breaker trips within a matter of milliseconds. It's the initial contact that's deadly.