riding the lightning
Today at work I saw a 90's flick about some sort of collapse in the Lincoln Tunnel where Sylvester Stallone was the hero that could'nt talk to save his life. In the film one of the characters cited the myth that "rubber tires are what makes you safe in a car in a lightning storm." Then enlightened with this desides to grab a sparking electrical cable that was dangling above the crashed bus she was in with her two shoes that she removed. Kids, don't try that at home. AC current is not like lightning at all, in fact even being in a car won't save you from AC, for example if an electrical wire falls onto your car, you're Westinghoused as was the Taunton teen who touched an overhead wire with a pole whilst disassembling scaffolding in Marshfield. Now to the "rubber tires save you" myth. It is not the tires that save you but rather that the car's body acts as a Faraday Cage. "Cars and aircraft. When lightning strikes an aircraft or a car the electric currents induced on it are forced to travel on the outer skin of the vehicle's body. ... The BBC television program Top Gear once sat the presenter Richard Hammond in a car while it was struck by a simulated lightning bolt of 800,000 volts at the Siemens High-Voltage lab in Berlin. [1] " Here is the clip from the show.
Also this article proves my point by saying :
"3 You are safe in your car because of the rubber tires.
4 You are safe from lightning if you are wearing rubber-soled shoes.
3. FALSE: You are safe in your car during a thunderstorm but not because of the tires. Because you are surrounded by steel, the electricity is redistributed along the metal and never reaches the inside. This doesn't work with convertibles or cars made primarily of fiberglass.
4. FALSE: If rubber tires aren't what saves you, rubber-soled shoes have no chance. DiCarlo said half an inch of rubber won't stop lightning coming from 30,000 feet in the air." (2)
Also this article proves my point by saying :
"3 You are safe in your car because of the rubber tires.
4 You are safe from lightning if you are wearing rubber-soled shoes.
3. FALSE: You are safe in your car during a thunderstorm but not because of the tires. Because you are surrounded by steel, the electricity is redistributed along the metal and never reaches the inside. This doesn't work with convertibles or cars made primarily of fiberglass.
4. FALSE: If rubber tires aren't what saves you, rubber-soled shoes have no chance. DiCarlo said half an inch of rubber won't stop lightning coming from 30,000 feet in the air." (2)