I suppose someone figured that, after a point, the only question is how far your red mist will be spread should you have contact with a line. I mean, I'll put money on the fact that you're sitting in a room right now with nearly-exposed electrical contacts that can kill you. I guess it's not a great leap from there to "go ahead and hang them overhead, and try to make sure they won't fall down".

OTOH, the only thing I've ever seen take down high tension towers was an ice storm so bad, they collapsed under the weight.