Of all the places you could be in the event of a lightning strike, your car isn’t a bad one. A car’s metal shell acts as a Faraday cage, guiding electrical energy around the body, through the tires, and into the ground. As long as you keep your hands to yourself and don’t touch anything that contains metal and is connected to the outside of the vehicle, you should be safe. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly true for your car; a powerful strike can obliterate its electrical systems, explode rubber, and break glass, among other things. A family in Illinois discovered this the hard way when lightning hit their Ford Edge last week.
The car was on the move when it was struck, according to the family, which caused “a loud gunshot type noise” and smoke to fill the interior, per the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. The three occupants then got out of the car, perhaps to survey the damage and wait for police, which probably wasn’t the safest move. In the unlikely event lightning does strike twice, inside the car is still the safest place to be, even if damage has already occurred.
When police did arrive, they found the Edge’s rear bumper popped off at the fringes, with the lower trim blown off the car, exposing wires. The passenger-side taillight was gone as well, and the only clue to what caused all of it was a precise burn right where the SUV’s small aerial is typically found. The electrics were fried, and police say the vehicle had to be towed away from its location off the shoulder of the highway.
All told, this must’ve been a frightening situation for the family, but it’s fortunate that nobody was harmed and it wasn’t much worse. No glass was shattered in this case, and lightning also has the potential to ignite fuel and oil and cause fires, which didn’t happen here. The Edge definitely took one for the team. And before your uncle on Facebook shares a post that says otherwise, let it be known that internal combustion engine cars are no safer in a storm than EVs; whether powered by gas or electricity, the same principles apply.
www.thedrive.com
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