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Name:  Robyn T.
Status:  educator
Age:  20s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2000-2001
Question:
If you are driving and your car gets hit by lightning will you be electrocuted? Many people say that the rubber tires will ground the charge therefore the "safest place" to be during a storm is in your car. Is this true? Explain!

Replies:
A car is a good place to be in a thunderstorm (NOT if a tornado comes along, though), but not because of the tires. The real reason is that the frame of the car is metal, making a "Faraday cage." The lightning bolt will pass through the frame of the car, and not through the interior passenger compartment.

Richard E. Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
Assistant Director
PG Research Foundation, Darien, Illinois


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