Struck By Lightening in Your Car? | FerrariChat

Struck By Lightening in Your Car?

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by venusone, Jun 29, 2004.

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  1. venusone

    venusone F1 Rookie

    Mar 20, 2004
    3,238
    Driving to a friend's house on a island last weekend a bolt flew over the top of my car & lit me up like a nuclear explosion at ground zero. I felt a blast come through the half open windows as I was blinded by white light. I must surely be dead I instantly thought. I breathed & therefore knew I was not. My ears are still ringing. I hear it at night when I go to bed. Close calls anyone?
     
  2. Alex_V

    Alex_V F1 Rookie
    BANNED

    Apr 8, 2004
    3,611
    Boulder, CO
    Full Name:
    Alex

    Wow thats something else, I have never had a close call but i kid I went ot school with was struck by lightning in 8th grade, he was in a coma for 2 weeks then came out. He showed me the shoes and hat he was wearing and they each had a big hole in them that was black around the edges. Your very lucky to even be alive, the ear ringing (annoying as it probablyis) is nothing compared to what could have happend though!
     
  3. UroTrash

    UroTrash Three Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Jan 20, 2004
    38,863
    Purgatory
    Full Name:
    Clifford Gunboat
    » Odds of being killed by lightening - 1 in 2 million.

    » Odds of being killed by a dog - 1 in 700,000.

    » Odds of dying while in the bath tub - 1 in 1 million.

    » Odds of being killed by space debris - 1 in 5 billion.

    » Odds of being killed by poisoning - 1 in 86,000.

    » Odds of being killed by freezing - 1 in 3 million.

    » Odds of being killed in a car crash - 1 in 5,000.

    » Odds of being killed in a tornado - 1 in 2 million.

    » Odds of being killed by falling out of bed - 1 in 2 million.

    » Odds of being killed in a plane crash -1 in 25 million.
     
  4. Alex_V

    Alex_V F1 Rookie
    BANNED

    Apr 8, 2004
    3,611
    Boulder, CO
    Full Name:
    Alex
    So the theory in Dumb and Dumber saying that you have more chance of dying on the way to the airport rather then on the plane is true.....pretty intresting stuff BTW.
     
  5. W00dEar

    W00dEar F1 Rookie
    BANNED

    Feb 24, 2004
    3,592
    LI, NY
    Full Name:
    Chris
    don't mean to sound silly but one should be ok getting hit in a car, no? no close circuit when the 4 tires touch ground only?
     
  6. WJHMH

    WJHMH Two Time F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 5, 2001
    25,364
    Panther City, Texas
    Full Name:
    WJHMH
    I had a tornado cross in front of me back in 2000, the car listed at bit then settled. I was very lucky I wasn't closer to it.
     
  7. RacerFlash

    RacerFlash Karting

    Nov 3, 2003
    173
    New Orleans
    Full Name:
    Bob Gordon
    Never been hit by Lightning myself, but I was at an Autocross a few years ago and a parked older Porsche 911 took a direct hit! The antenna was "melted" half way down and all four tires exploded! It smelled like a massive "burn out" the rest of the day. The radio was also blown, but everything else in the car was OK.

    PS: I read an article about a new study on Lightning the other day and it stated: "the chance of getting struck by lightning (not killed per say) was 1 in 700,000 in a year". But, "the chance of getting struck in your entire lifetime is only 1 in 3000" ! ! !

    Later,
    Flash
     
  8. Napolis

    Napolis Three Time F1 World Champ
    Honorary Owner

    Oct 23, 2002
    32,118
    Full Name:
    Jim Glickenhaus
    Nope. It's the shape of a car the voltage travels in a circle around the passenger compartment, (Not so in a rag top) converting elc. into magnetic a la an electro magnet and usually not killing you. Now Golfer's are something else. Due to the poli golfclothes which burn very nicely all that's often left are the leather soles of the shoes.
    Karen glad you're still with us. Did the giant magnetic field kill your watch?
     
  9. steve f

    steve f F1 World Champ

    Mar 15, 2004
    12,119
    12cylinder town
    Full Name:
    steve
    all of these depends on where you live more chance of choking on a hamburger in the usa than anywhere else in the world
     
  10. TigerAce

    TigerAce Formula 3

    May 29, 2003
    1,793
    Dallas, TX
    Full Name:
    Yoshi Ace
    Glad you are with us, and type about the incident.

    Did the struck affect anything to your car?
     
  11. cab7104

    cab7104 Karting

    Mar 25, 2004
    237
    Rochester, NY
    Full Name:
    Craig
    My father was struck through a water fountain when he was in high school. It knocked him across the room, and he was out of it a little out of it, but other than that he was OK. Glad you are OK.

    Craig
     
  12. Gladiator

    Gladiator Rookie

    May 21, 2004
    10
    Karen glad you’re okay.


    I knew a man who once said, "death smiles at us all; all a man can do is smile back." Gladiator.

    According to the stats, since there are about 6 billion people in the world…

    3,000 killed by lightning.

    8,571 killed by a dog.

    6,000 die while in the bathtub.

    1 killed by space debris.

    69,767 killed by poisoning.

    2,000 killed by freezing.

    1,200,000 killed in a car crash.

    3,000 killed in a tornado.

    3,000 killed by falling out of bed.

    240 killed in a plane crash.

    I’m glad Karen wasn’t one of the 3,000!
     
  13. Senappi

    Senappi Rookie

    Apr 19, 2004
    45
    Stockholm.se
  14. ryalex

    ryalex Two Time F1 World Champ
    Consultant Owner

    Aug 6, 2003
    24,957
    Las Vegas, NV
    Full Name:
    Ryan Alexander
    Thanks for sharing - that's amazing to see!

    PS: This was my Independence Post: #1776! 3 days too early, but close.
     
  15. ronsupercar

    ronsupercar Formula 3

    May 2, 2002
    1,576
    Orlando Fla.
    Full Name:
    4RE-Ron
    Living through rainy season here in Fla. now. We see lightning stroms every evening. Everyday I wonder if the rubber on the tires would ground me..

    I guess not.
     
  16. Giovanni_P

    Giovanni_P Formula Junior

    Nov 11, 2003
    368
    MetroWest, MA
    Full Name:
    John Pelliccio
    I belive that the phenomenon is called a "Farraday Cage". There's a good demo that they do at the Boston Museum of Science with a big Van De Graff generator (lightning machine). The operator gets into a big metal birdcage that then gets zapped with 1.2 million volts or so and he is perfectly fine. If I recall correctly, the tires on your car would have to be something like a half mile thick if you're going to rely on the isolation of the rubber to prevent the current from going through you into the ground.

    Never realized it worked for ragtops too, though. Wonder if it's the metal ribs that form the roof structure?
     
  17. Napolis

    Napolis Three Time F1 World Champ
    Honorary Owner

    Oct 23, 2002
    32,118
    Full Name:
    Jim Glickenhaus
    Probably so. (Metal Ribs)
     
  18. Giovanni_P

    Giovanni_P Formula Junior

    Nov 11, 2003
    368
    MetroWest, MA
    Full Name:
    John Pelliccio
    Couldn't resist. Something ought to be done about that dog!

    -Gio P
     
  19. coolestkidever

    coolestkidever F1 Veteran

    Feb 28, 2004
    5,538
    NJ
    Full Name:
    Patrick
    Ive had my adventure with electricity when i was young, not lightning but a light socket. I was three yrs old and i stuck both my middle fingers into a light socket. the only reason i survived was because my body created a full circuit so electricity was just "flowing" through me and not just hitting me. The effects were longstanding though, i think it was second degree burns on both fingers and a growth tendion fried on my right middle, now its crooked. I consider myself lucky and Im happy to hear that you are ok Karen.
     
  20. venusone

    venusone F1 Rookie

    Mar 20, 2004
    3,238
    4 tires protect you from being grounded - my ass. The bolt done traveled like a few miles down through air. 4 inches of rubber is nothing. All my electrical systems were fine. It must have been a fly over. Close w/ no leaders or direct contact. Ah, perhaps I was going too fast!
     

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