Can a lightning strike change the odometer reading?

General Discussion
,
41

Here are some images of cars that were struck by lightening. Any questions?

car-struck-by-lightning1-eliat.jpg709×894 95.3 KB


Lightning-strikes-car_323958_ver1_0_1280_720.jpg1280×720 118 KB

1 Like
42

Do you think one of those static srips would have helped? :jack_o_lantern:

1 Like
43

I can’t see the odometer, everything looks fine to me :grin:

2 Likes
44

Cars are one thing but airplanes? My FIL and MIL were on a flight that was hit by lightning. Nothing like that but not fun to go through. Think about that next flight.

45

I fly often enough to remember (hope it is true) it is more dangerous to be a pedestrian than a passenger on a commercial airliner.

46

You’re far, far more likely to be injured or killed in your car on the way to the airport than in the aircraft in flight, no matter how you parse the statistics out. And that includes the results of a lightning strike. Aircraft are struck by lightning often, and since it’s a long way (a lot of resistance) to ground and the fuselage acts like a Faraday cage and carries the charge around the passengers and the critical systems ( it dissipates into the surrounding air from the aircraft’s skin), negative consequences are very, very rare.

The reason lightening can blow a hole in a car is because the tires add enough resistance to ground that going through the car and jumping the resistance of the space between the steel car and “jumping” to earth offers less resistance than going through the tires. The passengers usually escape injury because the electricity travels around them through the car’s body. When I googled “cars struck by lightning” I did see a photo that caught a strike jumping the wheels to earth ground, but it often doesn’t happen that way.

I spent years of my life in the Air Force working avionics on B-52 bombers (including taking part in the bombing of Hanoi in December of '72 (Operation Linebacker) where we had over 150 bombers flying 24-7, and then spent over 20 years in industry as a part of design teams creating aircraft and missile systems. Trust me, aircraft are extremely safe.

Having said that, I understand that many people fear flying. I tend to believe that if they understood how aircraft work they wouldn’t
 but I know that isn’t realistic. Their fear isn’t rational.

2 Likes
47

Put me on the list of those with irrational fear of flying.

48

You have a lot of company. Fear of flying is common. Even among some engineers, who know how the plane works but get an anxiety attack just thinking about flying.

Me? I fear being stuffed into a seat the size of a water bucket for six hours on some 737 with 188 other passengers, some of whom are also overweight, and many of whom are completely inconsiderate.

49

I realize that you are much safer in an airplane that in a car figuring the risk per MILE. I wonder how the risk per HOUR is? Also , yoy never have 300 people in your car.

50

On the other hand, car manufacturers are increasingly moving towards plastics and composites for body panels, so we are losing that protection. Plus all the glass


51

I doesn’t matter how the numbers are parsed out, by mile, by hour, by trip, by individual, or whatever. Every bit of data I’ve ever seen on the subject shows flying to be much safer than driving.

Here’s an article on the subject.

52

I don’t have a fear of flying. I understand how aircraft work, had a pilot license, and some flight time in my log book


However, I do have a fear of crashing and dying! Some of the pilots these days scare me (think kids playing video games). Some of the reliance (over-reliance) on automatic stuff scares me. Bombs in luggage scare me.

Jumping or falling from an aircraft doesn’t scare me. It’s that sudden stop at the bottom that bothers me. :wink:
CSA

3 Likes
53

No doubt if in the direct discharge path! But far more people killed and equipment damaged from just being close enough to the main discharge path without being directly struck. All you need is sufficient potential from one side to the other and that can happen pretty far from the actual strike area


54

I have a neighbor that was in the medical corp during VN. He hadn’t flown for 40 years because of the mangled bodies he saw from crashes. I said well it really doesn’t matter how mangled you are once you’re dead. Once you cross the line of being dead, the rest is just for the report. He reluctantly took a trip last year and he made it just fine. All I want is a quick death, not falling from the sky for minutes on end and everyone screaming. The thing is though once you get up in the air, the hard part is getting down again. True flight may be safer, but in a car you only kill a few people at a time but in a plane it can be hundreds and its really out of your hands since they won’t let you at the controls anymore.

1 Like
55

I used to fear dying. My heart attack cured me of that.

Nothing about aircraft scares me. Whatever happens, happens.

56

That is a MUCH better way to die than many I have seen.

57

I used to have a grand fear of dying, but have come to accept it as inevitable, how and when is yet to be known, hope it is quick and fast. I thank Hospice for easing my fathers suffering.
What will my odometer reading be? I do not know till lightning strikes.

1 Like
58

I do not afraid of dying or when I just want to know where so I make sure not to go there.

1 Like