A dozen sidewalks in the past six months, to be precise. With a dozen similar roadside blasts reported in 2010, eight in 2011, and 29 last year, that brings the grand total to 61.That's according to the UK's Health and Safety Executive, which is pinning the explosions on faulty electrical boxes installed just beneath Londoners' feet. The kicker? According to LondonNet, this sort of thing, as seen in the above video, is not exactly uncommon.At the root of the problem is UK Power Networks, the South London-based power provider now being investigated under an order from the HSE. Thus far, with over 100,000 such electricity cabinets humming below The Big Smoke, UKPN contends that the explosions represent "relatively few cases when our equipment has faltered."It seems that for UKPN, which supplies over a quarter of the UK's electricity, the number of seemingly random explosions, all non-fatal, is still low enough that one simply shouldn't worry about being blown apart while innocently strolling to Hyde Park.To be fair, UKPN has dispatched inspectors to figure out why its underground boxes are going haywire, in addition to shelling out millions to improve safety.Here's hoping it's taking the investigation and public safety investment more seriously than the tone of an official statement that comes off as treating dozens of electrical blasts per year like a rounding error.Then again, the only thing worse than an exploding sidewalk tile? An exploding casket.
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