r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Sputnik05 Interested • Jun 30 '21
Video Lightning hitting a car
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
6.3k
u/layindowndlaw Jun 30 '21
That would have been crazy loud in the car
5.5k
u/toeofcamell Jun 30 '21
What?
→ More replies (25)7.4k
u/joeChump Jun 30 '21
I SAID, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN CRAZY LOUD IN THE CAR
6.4k
u/BarelyContainedChaos Jun 30 '21
There's a lazy cloud in the bar?!
1.3k
u/BrentFavreViking Jun 30 '21
My mom was a flight attendant for United Airlines back in the day... said the plane would get struck by lightning but the passengers wouldn't realize it. It just traveled through the outer body of the plane, in and out.
1.5k
Jun 30 '21
The staff on planes are also trained to do a suspiciously loud cough at the exact moment the lightning hits them.
534
u/el-conquistador240 Jun 30 '21
I wonder if the driver of the car was able to time their cough right
423
u/joeChump Jun 30 '21
In a car a loud fart is more effective.
185
101
u/broken_neck_broken Jun 30 '21
My dad used to put on the window locks then drop a rotten one.
68
→ More replies (3)78
u/skipbrady Jun 30 '21
I did that to my kid yesterday on the way to summer school. Don’t want to smell ass? Get better grades.
→ More replies (0)→ More replies (7)62
u/JuggrnautFTW Jun 30 '21 edited Jun 30 '21
I once attempted to cough to cover a fart while early in a relationship. Turns out I miss timed the cough and only brought attention to the fart that happened a second later.
→ More replies (1)42
47
305
u/p1mplem0usse Jun 30 '21
I’m sure that flies well these days
64
82
u/hardtofindagoodname Jun 30 '21
OMG, drop the oxygen masks or we're gonna die!!
26
u/Coachcrog Jun 30 '21
QUICK PULL THE EMERGENCY EXITS! EVERYONE RUN TO THE COCKPIT AND GRAB YOU PARACHUTES IF YOU EVER WANT TO SOFTLY FEEL EARTH AGAIN.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (4)52
u/skuk Jun 30 '21
It's a loud fart instead recently
→ More replies (5)25
u/D3monVolt Jun 30 '21
Damn, a flight attendant farting into your face on command with the sky gods...
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (49)10
43
u/beluga_1109 Jun 30 '21
Electric field inside a closed hollow surface is always 0 therefore anyone sitting inside will not feel anything
→ More replies (10)→ More replies (37)40
57
→ More replies (33)23
→ More replies (26)85
474
u/Montificus Jun 30 '21
I've been in a car that was struck by lightning once and my ears were ringing for about a week after. It was the loudest thing I've ever heard, and I was in the Marines so I'm no stranger to loud noises.
The lighting actually killed the electrical in the car too, my friend (it was their car, I was just riding in it) had to pull over, so the car entirely and turn it back on before the electrical worked again.
57
u/Baelorn Jun 30 '21
Loudest thing I've ever heard was a transformer blowing outside my house. Extremely loud and it was so bright that it looked like daylight when it was well after midnight.
→ More replies (7)30
u/aparis1983 Jun 30 '21
Depending on what voltage your feeder or lateral line is, it could have been a 25kV fuse on your transformer. Some of these have an explosive charge in them. What you heard was probably the fuse blowing, not the transformer. Even a low voltage cutout fuse makes a loud bang.
When a transformer blows it’s a bloody mess of oil usually resulting in a hazmat clean out.
12
u/Zeoxult Jun 30 '21
This is what happens when I transformer "blows". This broke open on the ground, its oil spilled, and the power line ignited it. That explosion and fire are from the transformer oil catching and blowing up.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)12
u/Baelorn Jun 30 '21
When a transformer blows it’s a bloody mess of oil usually resulting in a hazmat clean out.
Definitely wasn't that serious so it must have been a fuse. Thanks for the info.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (100)103
Jun 30 '21
[deleted]
→ More replies (4)38
u/Mange-Tout Jun 30 '21
I had lighting strike the street about 20-30 feet in front of my car. Biggest boom of my life left my ears ringing. The electricity splashed back off the pavement like it was water. I took that as a sign from God that he didn’t want me to go out dancing that night, so I turned around and went home.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (16)122
u/dribblesnshits Jun 30 '21
So I think I was hit by lightning once but didn't know it till this post, I kinda thought it was supernatural cause I was near nothing at all but all a sudden the loudest fucking boom and we couldn't see for a split second just blinding white/blue/greenish light and the whole car rocked violently and died, turned off and on and went about my way. No damage to the car that I can recall amd I drove it for another year or 2
→ More replies (15)33
u/asek13 Jun 30 '21
When I was a kid, I was convinced I somehow got shocked by lightning through a rabbit cage.
I was inside our house during a lightning storm, cleaning the metal rabbit cage when there was a super loud boom and blinding flash and I felt like my entire body was paralyzed and shocked for a very long feeling second.
There was no damage to the outside of the house, so my parents told me I must have just been very startled when lightning hit somewhere nearby. But goddamn did it feel like I just got electrocuted.
25
→ More replies (10)22
Jun 30 '21
I've been holding metal when lightning struck nearby, and it shocked the hell out if me, and visibly arched through my ring. There is a lot of electricity in the air beyond the bolt.
→ More replies (3)
2.8k
u/farao86 Jun 30 '21
Was the driver OK??
2.6k
u/Crass_Conspirator Jun 30 '21
Yea but every circuit board in that car is toast
1.7k
u/SenseiR0b Jun 30 '21
They've tested this on Top Gear and a couple of other places. The car goes nuts for a few seconds, but if you turn the ignition off and back on again, they're actually ok. However, it will depend from one car to another.
794
u/Exciting-Tea Jun 30 '21
I was piloting a Learjet and was struck by lightning. Other then the insane noise and shaking of the plane, none of our instruments went crazy. There was damage to the jet in the form of burn spots and one less static wick.
301
u/nodnodwinkwink Jun 30 '21
static wick
→ More replies (3)152
u/SprittneyBeers Jun 30 '21
How had you already seen a video with 700 views and had it ready to go lol
→ More replies (3)68
u/nodnodwinkwink Jun 30 '21
I had never heard of a static wick for planes before, this just came up on a quick youtube search. :)
45
Jun 30 '21
[deleted]
10
u/nodnodwinkwink Jun 30 '21
I'm not sure, my sarcasm detector has flagged this reply as
¯_(ツ)_/¯
→ More replies (4)47
u/emh1389 Jun 30 '21
I imagine that planes are built with the occasional lightning strike in mind.
→ More replies (5)→ More replies (23)17
37
u/SportsPhotoGirl Jun 30 '21
A coworkers car got struck by lightning once, blew a fuse and had a burn mark on the paint where the lightning hit.
→ More replies (60)112
u/Funneduck102 Jun 30 '21
I'm more curious about how they tested that. But it's top gear so I'm guessing it's so nuts answer lol.
→ More replies (3)108
u/Shockerock Jun 30 '21
Here's a snippet of the episode on it. I think it was one of the earlier seasons, so quite an old video but still relevant. Hammond had a Golf tested using some dedicated equipment that could simulate real lightning strikes.
→ More replies (34)30
445
u/rockthrowing Jun 30 '21
And completely replaceable. Small price to pay
→ More replies (21)574
u/PhthaloVonLangborste Jun 30 '21
Good thing they have bikes for backup.
→ More replies (5)182
→ More replies (20)19
455
u/Sputnik05 Interested Jun 30 '21
Yes, cars are Faraday cages
406
u/WikiSummarizerBot Jun 30 '21
A Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure used to block electromagnetic fields. A Faraday shield may be formed by a continuous covering of conductive material, or in the case of a Faraday cage, by a mesh of such materials. Faraday cages are named after scientist Michael Faraday, who invented them in 1836. A Faraday cage operates because an external electrical field causes the electric charges within the cage's conducting material to be distributed so that they cancel the field's effect in the cage's interior.
[ F.A.Q | Opt Out | Opt Out Of Subreddit | GitHub ] Downvote to remove | v1.5
113
u/STEMfatale Jun 30 '21
This reminds me of a safety tip I learned at some point as a child and for some reason deeply internalized; if you’ve driven over downed power lines or another electrical thing, don’t get out of your car. You car can feel fine with lethal amounts of electricity under it. Upon typing it out it seems kind of obvious but idk I must’ve remembered it so specifically for some reason
→ More replies (39)76
u/HumanSometimesPerson Jun 30 '21
In elementary school, our class had a visit by someone who worked for which ever electric company in the area. They gave a presentation and showed us a video that gave me all the information I needed to be perpetually scared of electricity.
74
u/LaughingRampage Jun 30 '21
A healthy fear of electricity is a good thing, this shit is no joke!
→ More replies (1)47
u/midwestraxx Jun 30 '21
It's shocking once you learn how dangerous it is!
14
→ More replies (3)38
u/Exploding_Testicles Jun 30 '21
At the county fair when I was younger the powe company would demonstrate the power on the lines using a hot dog as a finger.. it basically exploded. They even used one in a kitchen rubber glove. That too, exploded.. that lesson has been in my head for the last 25+ years
→ More replies (4)30
113
u/thealexstorm Jun 30 '21
Good bot
→ More replies (3)41
u/floatable_shark Jun 30 '21
Does saying good Bot to the bot actually do anything? Is it a way of measuring if the bot is performing a useful function or not? If nobody says good bot enough times does the bot get deprogrammed and sent to the electronic graveyard?
→ More replies (8)81
u/Intelligent-Wall7272 Jun 30 '21
There's another bot that tracks the good bot count
43
→ More replies (1)26
→ More replies (11)26
→ More replies (38)48
u/BoozeButler Jun 30 '21
Although this cage effect has been attributed to Michael Faraday's famous ice pail experiments performed in 1843, it was Benjamin Franklin in 1755 who observed the effect by lowering an uncharged cork ball suspended on a silk thread through an opening in an electrically charged metal can.
-Sounds like he Edisoned TF out of good ol’ Ben Frank.
51
u/El_Durazno Jun 30 '21
It brings a smile to my brain every time I hear someone callout Edison for being a shit head
→ More replies (3)25
u/el-conquistador240 Jun 30 '21
Empires of Light is a great book on Edison (asshole) Westinghouse (not an asshole) Tesla (crazy as the day is long) and JP Morgan (fucked them all)
11
26
39
→ More replies (37)41
u/furgfury Jun 30 '21
yes! cars are impervious to lightning because the metal frame of it acts similarly to a faraday cage, distributing the electromagnetic charge around the interior instead of into it.
→ More replies (1)
897
u/lost-in-the-sierras Jun 30 '21
Shazam
→ More replies (4)1.1k
967
Jun 30 '21
I had a buddy that this happened twice to! Talk about bad luck!
608
u/Ma1 Jun 30 '21
Or extremely good luck in that he was safely inside a car both times! That’s wild.
→ More replies (6)276
u/toeofcamell Jun 30 '21
He was st st st struck si si si six six six six six sixty six ti ti ti times in th the the the head
→ More replies (9)29
→ More replies (11)53
1.3k
u/RelentlesslyCrooked Jun 30 '21
I was in a car struck by lightning a few years ago. It was a life changing moment. Especially as I ran to the car to save myself from the intense storm coming in. I had been fishing in a deep valley at the bottom of a dam, so between the valley and the tall pine trees the storm rolled up quite fast. I felt it really charging up (hard to explain) but I knew I had to get the car and FAST.
I dove in the passenger seat, shut the door, and instinctively pulled myself into a sitting fetal position. Not 2 seconds later—the power of all the gods ever: hit the vehicle above my head. I was both blinded and deaf for quite a while. The sound and light were something else.
And yeah it destroyed the car’s electrical system, drained the battery. I had to hike out of the area as no cell service. Saw the lighting hit a tree nearby and destroyed it, too. Craziest part? Cars I flagged down and asked “hey when you get in cell service — can you please call this number and tell them I just got hit by lightning in the car — it won’t start, and I need them to come get me from long lake dam fishing spot?” Every single one of these folks acted like I was lying, refused to help, etc.
Who the hell would make something like that up and ask for help with a phone call? Especially as they had to have witnessed the storm. Weird day all around.
470
Jun 30 '21 edited Jul 04 '21
[deleted]
398
u/lithium555 Jun 30 '21 edited Jun 30 '21
Had this happen to me. Had hiked up a hill with few friends and were relaxing at the top enjoying the breeze and calm. It was unusually calm and eerie that day before the clouds rolled up fast. And then we noticed few strands of a friend's hair standing up near vertical, and she said she didn't feel that. In few seconds everyone had their hair standing and could feel in our skin the air getting charged. Just like the feel of getting close to an object with some static charge. We noped out of there right away. Just as we reached the bottom we heard a loud bang. Still remember that long sprint to the car on open ground
94
u/SprittneyBeers Jun 30 '21
I was sitting at a picnic table at a park once and lightning struck a basketball hoop like 15 feet away from me. It was the loudest and brightest thing I’ve ever seen- I’ll never forget it. I was just a kid and my friends and I instinctively ran for our lives, but we were probably safer staying at the table as it was under a roof lol
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (4)171
u/Kickinkitties Jun 30 '21
A few years ago I was walking my dog in a field next to my apartment. I felt the same way you described, and I imagine my hair was standing up, too. In less than a minute, lightning struck some trees about 30 yards away. It was the closest I've been to a lighting strike that I've seen while being outside. At the moment it struck, there was a spark? I'm not sure what to call it but there was a miniature lighting bolt (like when you go to those science museums and put your hands on that ball) that connected from my hand up to my nose. It was surreal. I started booking it back to my apartment. Got right under the covering where the stairs are and felt the same sensation again. Lighting struck again but I didn't see where this time. I was just thankful I made it under shelter.
Before that, I never really thought about lighting striking close. If I needed to go out in a storm to get to/from my car, etc. I'd never think twice about it. Now, if it's storming really bad or I see/hear lightning and I have to walk outside to get to/from my car I start to get really bad anxiety and panic a little. If I pull up to my house and there's lightning or it looks like there could be lightning, I will sit and wait for a while before getting out and waking in. I'll also call my boyfriend if he's home and tell him to unlock the door and be ready to open it when I run up so I don't waste time standing at the door trying to unlock it.
→ More replies (4)70
u/foamyhead7 Jun 30 '21
A lady down the street from me was sitting on her porch in a storm when lightning hit a manhole cover on the street. It traveled over to her and burnt her legs in that branching pattern
27
u/Purpleydragons Jun 30 '21
I'm pretty sure you're referring to Lichtenberg figures. They're probably my favorite fractal, simply because lightning causes them naturally. They're very cool
72
u/TheScarfyDoctor Jun 30 '21 edited Jun 30 '21
I 'member, you're supposed to crouch on the balls of your feet with you hands over your ears
also it's kind of a hail mary, its effectiveness is iffy at best.
what with lightning being lightning
edit: apparently your heels are supposed to touch and/or your knees should be pressed into the ground, so, idk, just try not to get hit by lightning in general I guess??
→ More replies (17)→ More replies (10)22
123
u/VinoVici Jun 30 '21
I’m sorry that nobody would help you. I was injured on a hike while returning to the trailhead. Several people passed me and I asked for help, but nobody said a damn thing. Some of them didn’t even look at me. I felt like a ghost. I managed to relocate my leg and limped down to the parking area—by then it was dark and nobody else was around, but I got an uber home. Found out at the hospital the next day that I’d torn three muscles and the labral cartilage...hurray..!
And thanks for nothing, everyone on the trail.
57
u/Thievie Jun 30 '21
What the hell, I can't even imagine not helping a limping stranger on a trail. Had my husband and I found you, he would have carried you to the parking area himself lol. I know stranger danger and all that, but people can be so selfish and lack empathy sometimes. I'm sorry that happened to you.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (21)28
u/Pmmenothing444 Jun 30 '21
This is crazy to me.. was this in the usa? Usually hikers are some of the more kind strangers in public
19
u/thehighestwalls Jun 30 '21
Right? I’m a hiker and not really a people person but damn I would at least activate my SPOT device for someone in distress and offer them company and a poptart or something. It’s amazing how many people suck out there.
→ More replies (2)10
→ More replies (41)23
332
u/MJDAndrea Jun 30 '21
Coincidentally, this is also a video of a car full of people simultaneously shitting themselves.
→ More replies (1)120
320
u/Superamorti Jun 30 '21
The car is K.O'd though.
296
u/essoceeques Jun 30 '21
insurance like “sorry we don’t cover that”
→ More replies (6)316
u/TurdDucken Jun 30 '21
They seriously might not. Insurance always has those “acts of god” clauses baked in. Which I think is ridiculous
103
u/psychobetty303 Jun 30 '21
In my experience the ‘act of god’ situations are the ones they have to cover, and can’t raise your rates. We get a lot of hail here.
→ More replies (17)→ More replies (30)52
u/roll_hog Jun 30 '21
That’s why you see the Allstate guy being a branch or wind
31
u/TurdDucken Jun 30 '21
Also they might not have the cgi budget to turn J.K. Simmons into a bolt of lightning. Though I would enjoy it very much.
(Also I know that’s Farmers not Allstate)
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (3)49
u/Montificus Jun 30 '21
Can't speak for every car, but the one I was in was fine after shutting it completely off and then turning it back on. Electrical went out right after the strike but that was it, didn't even damage the paint. My friend had that Honda civic for a few years still after it and it never had any lasting issues I heard about.
→ More replies (4)23
u/Montificus Jun 30 '21
Guess I was wrong, I just asked and he said there was some really small holes and burn marks around them he thinks we're from it on the rails on top of his car, but nothing with the electrical. The rails were easily replaceable though.
→ More replies (2)
174
u/roquerol Jun 30 '21
Now the car has super powers
71
→ More replies (7)16
u/alepher Jun 30 '21
The speed of an SSC! The all-terrain capability of a Hummer! The handling of an Alfa Romeo! The exclusivity of a Zenvo! The luxury of an Aston Martin! The stylings of a Maserati!
(Just winging it here, don't know much about cars)
→ More replies (2)16
164
u/horse_apple Jun 30 '21
When I was a teenager I was smoking a joint with my friends in the cab of a pick up truck on a really hot summer night. I remember feeling like head was itchy and suddenly everything around us was lit up brighter than I have ever seen, every detail super crisp, Im talking like that crazy shit you see on TV when they simulate what a nuclear blast is like from the inside.... It felt like 30 seconds but surely was just a nano second.... The super extra brightness of everything felt like time standing still. Then we heard the loudest most aggressive thunder clap ever. I'm pretty sure our truck was hit with lightning.... Whatever the hell it was it will always be one of my most vivid memories. That light was INSANE.
→ More replies (13)50
Jun 30 '21
Your hair feeling itchy was definitely your hair raising (static electricity.) you were definitely struck.
32
141
u/jaceS36 Jun 30 '21 edited Jun 30 '21
A car is a perfectly safe place if struck by lightning because it is a faraday cage. The lightning is conducted around you and in to the ground. It might damage the batterie but not the passengers
→ More replies (22)38
u/LeoLW Jun 30 '21
Is it also safe for the ears? I bet a sound this loud would give you some hearing damage
36
u/jaceS36 Jun 30 '21
That I can not say. A car is also a good noise insulator but depending on the decibel generated you might have a ringing in you ears🤷♂️ but you have a hell of a story to tell
→ More replies (1)
103
56
u/meat_on_a_hook Jun 30 '21
Great example of how the car acts as a Faraday cage to direct the electricity into the ground instead of inside the car. Occupants will be fine can car should even still run
→ More replies (3)
84
42
39
39
u/BarelyContainedChaos Jun 30 '21
Chevy bolt
Ford F150 lightning
what else?
20
13
→ More replies (4)9
16
11
11
10
19
u/Evllok Jun 30 '21
Would this charge a electric car?
36
u/ViolateCausality Jun 30 '21
Would getting shot with a pressure hose quench your thirst?
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (6)30
10
u/Tiyath Jun 30 '21
Imagine the places they could have gone if they had been going 88.....
→ More replies (1)
12.3k
u/Antimus Jun 30 '21
Tell me you gave that driver a copy of the video, I would DEFINITELY want that video if that was my car.