Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

Nothing’s scarier than the idea of falling asleep at the wheel, and a frightening occurrence in San Diego yesterday reminded us of how important it is to be aware when operating a vehicle. When the Toyota Solara crashed into a utility box in University City, Calif., the driver – who police say had fallen asleep at the wheel – knocked out power for some residents.

Not only did the crash shear off a water service panel – which recycles unit water to a 117-unit condo complex – but also flooded electrical vaults and service panels; as a result, the complex lost power and nearby signal lights. Even worse, a 10-foot high geyser gushed for over three hours, as recalled by the San Diego Fire Rescue, who responded to the incident.

Thankfully, the driver was able to crawl out of the wreck through one of the windows and retreated to a friend’s home. Soon after, the individual was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for minor injuries. Furthermore, the driver was not suspected to be under the influence of any type, and is not expected to be charged for the accident.

Although power was restored to the complex by 7:30 a.m., communications like Internet, phone, and television will take a bit longer, with full restoration estimated later today.

This serves as a good time to refresh your memory on some of the unexpected events that can leave you in the dark, as not all power outages are caused by the typical lightning bolt or natural disaster. Duston Nixon, marketing communications specialist for Minuteman UPS/Para Systems (News - Alert), told TMCnet last fall, “While these events usually take the forefront both in people’s minds and in the media, other less expected factors can lead to outages.”Among the top five unexpected incidents to cause power outages are construction accidents, animal-related incidents – think small, adorable critters like squirrels and beavers – that can maneuver their way into utility and power equipment, employee sabotage, utility provider errors, and last but not least, traffic accidents (specifically, one every 5.7 seconds).

Keep yourself up to speed (and out of the dark) with reliable, expert power protection plans and products, such as those offered by Minuteman, whose highly-acclaimed technology products are sold in over 100 countries world-wide. With sustainable, dependable options like uninterruptible power supplies, line interactive and standby UPS systems, power distribution units (PDUs), surge suppressors, and keyboard-video-mouse (KVM) products, you’re bound to find what you need to stay one step ahead when unexpected incidents strike.