Is this even possible? FloridaMan story

[onethatcares]

Lightning Strike Catches Dunedin Man's SUV On Fire
By John Rojas Pinellas County
PUBLISHED 5:00 PM ET Sep. 17, 2020

DUNEDIN, Fla. - A Dunedin man said it was pure luck that he was outside of his SUV when a lightning strike caught the vehicle on fire while parked at his home last Friday.


In the story he states that tires now have "steel belts" that conduct electricity, not like the rubber ones from the 70s.

If he's right, we're doomed.

I could not post the link directly, it is from BayNews9 Pinellas County edition.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. link

https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2020/09/17/lightning-strike-catches-dunedin-man-s-suv-on-fire

[Turbineguy]

2. Maybe

trump will buy him a new car with our money.

[captain queeg]

3. I'd imagine the voltage is high enough to push thru the rubber and go to ground

[Chainfire]

4. The lightning has traveled perhaps miles through the air

An inch of rubber means nothing to it. It could continue it's arc the final 12" from the frame to the ground. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

[Chainfire]

5. The lightning travels perhaps miles through the air

An inch of rubber means nothing to it. It could continue it's arc the 12" from the frame to the ground. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

[Eugene]

6. That rubber tires as an insulator thing is a myth.

Lightning will find its way to ground though the vehicle's frame.

Setting the car on fire is rare. Burning out all the electricals, including the door locks, is more common.

[sanatanadharma]

7. It is a myth that rubber tires isolate the car from the ground

The electricity that is lightning jumps great distances through the air. The 12 -20 inches from car chassis to earth is no barrier; the rubber is irrelevant.

However, the car body around the occupants (if they are not touching any metal) can conduct the electricity around rather than through the occupants' bodies.

I am not a scientist, but also not an under-educated magat nor well-taught by grandma's 'common knowledge'.

[onethatcares]

8. thanks,

Learn something new everyday on the DU.

[dawg day]

9. A few years ago, lightning struck the ground

near a practicing hs football team, and traveled through the ground and knocked some of them down. That surprised me.

[sl8]

10. According to the NWS, ground current causes the most lightning deaths and injuries.

https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-struck#:~:text=Ground%20Current,a%20victim%20of%20ground%20current.

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