Will Rubber Tires Protect You From Lightning

If you check out the graphic below you will notice how the current exits to the ground through the tires.

Will rubber tires protect you from lightning.

Bolts from the blue can strike 10 15 miles from the thunderstorm. So the rubber tires on your car do not protect you from lightning they simply ground your vehicle so that the electricity has a place to exit. Myth 5 a car s rubber tires will protect you from lightning. Rubber does not protect you from lightning.

Myth 8 wearing metal on your body attracts lightning. Rubber is indeed an electrical insulator but your shoes or bike tires for instance are way too thin to protect you from a lightning strike. Rubber tires on a car protect you from lightning by insulating you from the ground. Most people believe the rubber tires on a car prevent lightning strikes.

However the steel frame of a hard topped vehicle provides increased protection if you are not touching metal. Myth 6 if you re outside in a storm lie flat on the ground. Rubber soled shoes and rubber tires provide no protection from lightning. Myth 7 if you touch a lightning victim you ll be electrocuted.

Ironically it s not the rubber tires insulating the car but rather the conductive metal framing which protects you by conducting the electricity around the vehicle and its occupants. The truth is rubber tires don t prevent lightning strikes in the least bit.