No one wants to encounter a downed power line. Because it is a real world possibility, exploring options for dealing with the situation fits with a survival forum. Creativity in questioning currently accepted wisdom is one possible path to a better understanding of the world and better surviving in it.

Maybe there will never, in the history of the world, a better strategy for civilians dealing with downed power lines than "stay away." But, one, you never know until you ask, and two, given the history of scientific progress, I doubt it.