Will Rubber Tires Protect You From Lightning
Rubber soled shoes and rubber tires provide no protection from lightning.
Will rubber tires protect you from lightning. Lightning often strikes more than three miles from the center of the thunderstorm far outside the rain or thunderstorm cloud. Rubber does not protect you from lightning. Myth 7 if you touch a lightning victim you ll be electrocuted. Myth 5 a car s rubber tires will protect you from lightning.
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. However the steel frame of a hard topped vehicle provides increased protection if you are not touching metal. 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. The truth is rubber tires don t prevent lightning strikes in the least bit.
Rubber tires on a car protect you from lightning by insulating you from the ground. Myth 6 if you re outside in a storm lie flat on the ground. Most people believe the rubber tires on a car prevent lightning strikes. Here s where your grandmother is right though your car is a fairly safe place to be in a thunderstorm but for a different reason entirely.
Myth 8 wearing metal on your body attracts lightning. Bolts from the blue can strike 10 15 miles from the thunderstorm.