Was My Car Struck By Lightning

What do you do if your car is struck by lightning?

Your car acts as a faraday cage where the lighting disperses around the car and to the ground. I would not touch the radio or anything else that has contact with the outside such as a door handle or CB or HAM radio that could have an antenna to the outside. Contrary to popular opinion the rubber on the tires does not insulate you, the distance between the wheel well and the ground is relatively small and the lightning can jump that with ease.I have a lighting story of my own while I was storm chasing. We were on a chase and we had a cell phone and radio with an outside external antenna. I heard some crackling like someone was eating some snack food. My buddy in back of me heard the same thing and thought I was eating. We both look at each other, realize neither one of us was eating, and start to freak out. The first thing I did was grab my cell phone and I got shocked! Apparently charge was building up on the antennas outside the vehicle and was transferring to the electronics that were inside the vehicle. We quickly disconnect all equipment linked to the outside and wait until we are away from the storm before hooking them back up.

Can a car get struck by lightning?

Yes lightning can strike a moving car. The current flows around the car an gets absorbed by earth. The car's body acts like a Faraday’s cage. If lightning strikes persist, pull over, switch off engine and music. Switch on hazard lights and do not touch any metal part of the car or your phone. Wait out the lightning storm inside the car. Don't leave the car. If at all, you have to leave the car, open the car door, stand and jump out with both feet simultaneously. Then drag your feet together slowly for about twenty feet from the car and you would be safe. If you put out only one foot on the ground, you would only help complete the circuit and fry yourself and the car both.

What would happen if lightning struck a car? Has it happened before and what was the result?

Yes, lightning strikes cars rather commonly. Not as often as one might guess, because the car body is insulated from the road by the non-conductive rubber tires.However, if the tires are wet — which of course occurs during thunderstorms — the water will provide a conductive path from the metal wheels to the roadway. The roadway itself is not a very good ground for an electrical discharge, but again if it is covered with water there will be a conductive path to the ground nearby.So it may well be that a car, out in a rainstorm, can provide the least-resistance path to ground, hence be the preferred route to earth for a lightning bolt.This can have serious effects on a car’s electrical system, radio, and other accessories. Current surges from the lightning can burn out the wiring or the devices.Ordinarily, people inside the car are not injured by the lightning, because they are not grounded. The metal of the car provides a preferential conductive path, so people are not injured. However, if one were to fear that lightning might strike the car, and hence decide to get out and run somewhere to hide, then the person would at some point be in contact both with the car body and the ground (or wet roadway). In the case, the individual — you, perhaps — would have voluntarily provided a preferential path to ground for a lightning bolt. That person might well then be incinerated or electrocuted.If you are caught in a car during a lightning storm, the smart thing is to stay inside, and if possible do not touch anything metallic. The car should be driven into a garage, if possible, or at least up to the side of a building. Otherwise, park under a highway overpass. It is best not to keep driving out in the open, and particularly not on hilltops.

What happens if a Tesla is struck by lightning?

If you had a ball of a conductor and attempted to measure the current of electricity as it entered one side and exited the other, you’d notice that all of the electrical current that passed through the ball only ever traveled along the surface, and that the inside of the conductor was unaffected. That’s why people can stand in Faraday cages that are struck by Tesla coils and be completely unharmed.The same thing would happen to the metal exterior of the Tesla vehicle: the current would remain outside the vehicle, and would be unlikely to cause damage to the engine at all.