What to do if you think your car was struck by lightning.
When I was growing up, I always heard that one of the safest places in a lightning storm is the in the safety of your car. The reason, as I was always told, is that the car’s rubber tires act as insulation from the lightening grounding out much like the rubber coating on a wire With no chance to ground, you car will not get hit.
But recently I saw the most incredible video of a car being struck by lightening while traveling through an intersection. If you want you can check it out here. In this video, the lightening strike is so powerful that it actually blows car parts off the car. But this can’t possibly be real I thought, going back to my long held belief that cars are safe from lightening. Turns out, lightening strikes to vehicles are very real, and more common that I once thought.
Are you in danger of being electrocuted in your car?
When lightening strikes a car, most often the electricity carries around the outer metal skin of the car in what is called a Faraday cage as it reaches the ground. Typically it is the Faraday effect that keeps occupants safe inside, however there are instances where someone was touching a metal part of the car such as a door handle even a gear shifter, or was talking on a phone that was plugged into the car.
But not all cars are the same.
In order for the Faraday effect to work, it requires a nearly completely metal car, and we all know that more and more cars are being built with materials other than metal. Also convertibles do not have metal roofs, which compromises the Faraday cage affect. In, vehicles that are manufactured out of non-metal parts such as plastic, fiberglass or even carbon fiber, the construction materials impedes electricity’s ability to flow through the car, and the occupants are more likely to be injured.
Other potential lightening strike dangers inside a car
When a car is struck by lightning, some of the current can flow through the vehicle’s electrical systems and metal things attached to the car such as radios, cell phone chargers, GPS units as well as car door handles, foot pedals, the steering column and the steering wheel. These entry points into the car can cause a person to be injured while inside the vehicle.
At what point is it safe to exit the vehicle after it has been hit by lightning?
Chances are your car will not remain running very long. Most times the car continues traveling for a few seconds as all the system shuts down. The effect will be as if the car has stalled. Just like a stalled vehicle, you will have little to no steering and little to no brakes. Try to pull the car to the side of the road for safety. And note that your hazard lights will likely not work. Once the electrical current has passed through the vehicle and entered into the ground, it is technically safe to exit the vehicle. However, it is best to wait until the thunderstorm has passed before getting out of your car.
What happens to the car when lightning strikes a vehicle?
The answer runs the gamut from nothing to completely totaled. Reported damage to vehicles includes pitting, arcing, and burning on both exterior and interior places. There have been instances where there was a complete meltdown of vehicle the wiring, and associated electrical and electronic systems. Police departments report bad burns to the hands and mouth where officers were using radio microphones when their vehicles were struck. There have also been reported instances where one to all four tires have been blown out by a lightening strike. Lightning strikes can also cause cars to partially catch fire from parked vehicles.
Insurance coverage of cars that are struck by lightening
In some instances, insurance adjusters might not find physical damage, however lightning can induce indirect effects to a vehicle’s electrical and electronic systems. These low-voltage components could be damaged or destroyed. The most likely manifestations of lightening strikes will be visible in the physical world. Wheels can show pitting and arcing, paint jobs can show burn marks or peeling with some rust induced by the strike.
Electronic damage, especially with modern cars, can be expensive to repair. If you carry just a minimum liability policy, the coverage won’t be enough to fix the car in most cases, and collision coverage won’t pay for it either as the vehicle was not involved in a collision.
Comprehensive coverage, if you have it, will cover damage not caused by collision. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, comprehensive coverage will cover all non-collision damage claims including weather-related damage like lightning. Even if there’s no visible damage to your car, you may need to have a diagnostic test performed to determine electrical damage. Your insurer may then have to decide whether the damage could have been caused by anything other than lightning before compensating you.
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