What Happens If Lightning Strikes Your Car?
Thunderstorms can be beautiful to admire from a distance –just ask the ISS astronauts who take incredible photos of lightning from space– but up close and personal, they're frightening. A lightning bolt can obliterate trees in the blink of an eye. It makes one wonder how safe you actually are in a car. A lightning strike will typically hit the antenna or somewhere along the roof first, damaging multiple components of your car. Since most modern vehicles have defrosting wires in the rear windshield, there will be damage there. You can also expect some damage to your car's antenna, electrical system, and even tires. This happens as the lightning travels through the steel belts, making its way to the ground.
If the lightning is strong enough, it could cause a fire within the car or prevent it from running. It's generally believed that rubber tires keep people safe in their cars, but that's simply a myth. Not that you won't be safe in the car, but it's not because of the tires. What actually protects a car's occupants is the roof and sides, which act as a Faraday cage and guide the lightning down to the ground. Even newer cars made out of composite materials keep metal parts to keep this design feature.
Cars are the second safest place to be in the middle of a lightning storm — as long as they have a metal roof and sides — with a fully constructed building (houses or office buildings) being the first.
How often are cars struck by lightning
Cars being struck by lightning might seem like a rare occurrence, but it happens significantly more than you think. The chances of it happening to you are in the ballpark of 100,000 to one, but it still happens millions of times a year.
A woman experienced this terrifying event in Newport News, Virginia, in April 2024 while driving along I-64. The vehicle took the entirety of the strike, as she wasn't harmed at all. According to WTKR, she compared the sound of lightning hitting her car to the sound of a popcorn bag in the microwave bursting. Another driver down south in Georgia had their car disabled by a lightning strike in July 2024. Lightning disabling a car is the least that can happen.
In a memorable stunt on Top Gear, former host Richard Hammond tested a Volkswagen Golf's ability to withstand a lightning strike. After the car was hit by 800,000 volts of electricity, Hammond admitted his hands tingled, showing that there might be some residual voltage that could get to passengers. He also revealed that most automotive manufacturers don't test their cars against lightning, which is a big risk to take for a television show. So, if you're ever a car passenger amid a thunderstorm, keep your hands in your lap.