While 12 volts is very unlikely to electrocute you and in most cases touching it doesn’t even produce an electric shock sensation, there is a real danger from the high amps a car battery can deliver. A 12 volt car battery can turn your wedding ring red hot in just a few seconds of short circuit current. I met someone who had to have his ring finger amputated because of this kind of accident.
Always remove the ground cable from the battery before doing electrical work on a car. You can leave the positive cable hooked up.
The reason to remove the ground cable is that if you short out the wrench to the chassis, you don’t produce a short. Once the ground is disconnected, hitting the chassis with the wrench while removing the positive wire won’t produce a short.
Remember, remove the ground first, and connect the ground last.
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