Riding through a thunderstorm

The Rookie

snailracer wrote:

The Beginner wrote:

An older motoring show did the same experiment, they ran a trailing wire from the car body to the ground to avoid burning out the tyres.

Which of course merely shows they THOUGHT it MAY be a risk....besides the TG testing shows if they were doing the same experiment the wire was not needed for that test surely, in other words TG got it 'more right'.

Any evidence it happens or can happen?

Simon

kurako

Re: Tyres/ rubber shoes and the like

http://www.uic.edu/labs/lightninginjury/ltnfacts.htm

"Wearing a rubber raincoat (substitute sneakers or other forms of clothing here) will decrease my chances of being hit." Conversely: "Wearing cleated shoes increases my chances of being struck."

False, and probably false. The first is easy to dispel: if lightning has burned its way through a mile or more of air (which is a superb insulator), it is hardly logical to believe that a few millimeters of any insulating material will be protective. The second is a subject of contention but I tend to believe that there would be little effect from whatever is on the bottom of your feet. Certainly metal on the bottom of the feet can heat up and cause secondary burns, but it is unlikely to "draw" lightning to the person.

"I am safe in a car because the rubber tires protect me."

True and False. True because there have been no documented lightning deaths that have occurred in a hard topped metal vehicle with the windows rolled up. However, the composite tires have little, if any, part in this, for the same reasons as those just discussed with regard to insulation. The safety has to do with the fact that electrical current travels along the outside of a conductor (the metal body of the car) and dissipates to the ground through paths that include the tires and the rainwater.