{"id":43604,"date":"2023-09-28T17:59:16","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T17:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/histarmar.net\/?p=43604"},"modified":"2023-09-28T17:59:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-28T17:59:16","slug":"im-a-mechanic-heres-how-to-stay-safe-during-a-thunderstorm-cars-have-a-hidden-feature-that-will-save-your-life-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/histarmar.net\/world-news\/im-a-mechanic-heres-how-to-stay-safe-during-a-thunderstorm-cars-have-a-hidden-feature-that-will-save-your-life-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"I'm a mechanic… here's how to stay safe during a thunderstorm – cars have a hidden feature that will save your life | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"
AN expert mechanic has revealed how to stay safe in your car during a thunderstorm – there's a hidden feature that could save your life.<\/p>\n
Scotty Kilmer took to YouTube to share the handy safety tip with viewers as rocky weather is set to roll in.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Scotty, who has worked in the motors industry for more than 50 years, said: "One of the safest places you can be in a thunderstorm is inside your car.<\/p>\n
"It's very safe inside a car for humans."<\/p>\n
He claimed that this is because cars sit on rubber tyres so, despite having numerous metal components, are insulated from electricity.<\/p>\n
This supposedly means that if lightning strikes anywhere nearby, the current can't be carried into the car through the ground.<\/p>\n
Scotty explained that he wears rubber-soled shoes for the same reason and that a recent lightning strike fried his car's solar panel charger but not the vehicle's electrical system.<\/p>\n However, while Scotty has come to the right conclusion, the science behind it is actually a little more complicated than that.<\/p>\n Rubber wheels do not provide adequate protection from lightning and you should never touch the metal parts of your car during a strike.<\/p>\n The National Lightning Safety Insitute in America said: "Rubber tyres provide no safety from lightning. <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n "After all, lightning has travelled for miles through the sky: four or five inches of rubber is no insulation whatsoever."<\/p>\n Yet it is still completely safe to be in your car during a thunderstorm.<\/p>\n This is because of the way electricity is conducted through objects, with the frame of the car acting as a Farraday cage.<\/p>\n Named after Michael Faraday, a groundbreaking physicist in the field of electromagnetism, the term refers to the fact that current is mostly conducted through the outside of metal structures.<\/p>\n In this way, the external frame of the car bears the brunt of a lightning strike, with the conductive components on the inside receiving very little voltage. <\/p>\n This was even put to the test in series four of Top Gear, when Richard Hammond emerged unharmed from a car after it was struck by an artificially-produced lightning bolt.<\/p>\n Just make sure not to touch any of the metal parts and do not use the doors, windows, radio or steering wheel.<\/p>\n Official advice is to pull over, turn on your hazards, turn off the engine and wait until the storm passes.<\/p>\n There are also a couple of notable exceptions, with convertibles and fibreglass body cars not protected.<\/p>\n And the advice is particularly timely, as Storm Agnes brought 79mph winds and floods to the UK last night.<\/p>\n The Met Office has announced a collection of yellow weather warnings, with more stormy weather on the way.<\/p>\n It comes after two major car brand recalled millions of motors over a fire risk.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Scotty told viewers why he feels EVs are a disaster and could even be deadly.<\/p>\n<\/picture>SCRATCH THAT <\/span><\/p>\n
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