Will Rubber Tires Protect You From Lightning

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.

Will rubber tires protect you from lightning.

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. Rubber tires on a car protect you from lightning by insulating you from the ground. Rubber does not protect you from lightning.

The truth is rubber tires don t prevent lightning strikes in the least bit. Myth 7 if you touch a lightning victim you ll be electrocuted. If you check out the graphic below you will notice how the current exits to the ground through the tires. 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 4 if you don t see rain or clouds you re safe. Myth 6 if you re outside in a storm lie flat on the ground. Lightning often strikes more than three miles from the center of the thunderstorm far outside the rain or thunderstorm cloud. Rubber soled shoes and rubber tires provide no protection from lightning.

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.