Woman shoots lightning out her ass

[DeltAlum]

Actually, dropping to the ground might help, but only because lightening will generally strike the highest path to earth -- which is why it isn't safe to try to hide under a tree. I suppose that dropping to the ground could make you "lower" than something else that might be close by. You should stay away from high places -- like mountain cliffs or high hills, and off flat places like golf courses where you might be the highest thing in the immediate area.

What it really comes down to is you're probably safer in a house or car.

[highflyerlaura]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

Actually, dropping to the ground might help, but only because lightening will generally strike the highest path to earth -- which is why it isn't safe to try to hide under a tree. I suppose that dropping to the ground could make you "lower" than something else that might be close by. You should stay away from high places -- like mountain cliffs or high hills, and off flat places like golf courses where you might be the highest thing in the immediate area.

What it really comes down to is you're probably safer in a house or car.

Not necessarily Delta.


I was at a horse riding competition one time and lightening hit our truck. Luckly no-one was inside or any horses were tied to the truck at the time, but it wreaked every single circuit in the vehicle and left a nice big charred mark on the roof of the truck.

[epchick]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

Actually, dropping to the ground might help, but only because lightening will generally strike the highest path to earth -- which is why it isn't safe to try to hide under a tree. I suppose that dropping to the ground could make you "lower" than something else that might be close by. You should stay away from high places -- like mountain cliffs or high hills, and off flat places like golf courses where you might be the highest thing in the immediate area.

What it really comes down to is you're probably safer in a house or car.

your probably safer in a house, but I don't know about a car. There are so many metal objects and things that are so near to you in a car that it could be fatal too.

AT the moment the thing that comes to mind is an episode of CSI: Las Vegas, where they were trying to figure out how a guy died in his car. Turns out that a downed power line hit the top roll bar on his Jeep. Now, this guy was driving with one hand, and had the other arm laying down on window "ledge" (you know how when you roll down your window, you somtimes rest your forearm on that little indentation?).

Now the circuit went through the roll bar, up through his watch, across the seat belt buckle, and made his heart stop. I don't know how accruate that is in real life, but i've heard that if your car was to get hit by lightning, your not suppose to touch ANYTHING, your not even suppose to move, because the lightning is still traveling around your car, and any slight movement can send a shock through your body.

[DeltAlum]

Rubber is one of the best insulators, so, in theory, as long as the car isn't touching something else (a tree branch, etc.), the tires should insulate it and it should be reasonably safe. If it is touching something that will take electricity to ground, though, all bets are off. For instance, if a chain or the stand at the tongue of the trailer was touching, that creates the path to ground. Also, if either were close to touching, a strong current can bridge a small air gap. If there is a strong strike close by, there may be enough static to damage electrical equipment -- and possibly even people, I suppose. I've heard of people being injured in motor vehicles if they are touching a metal part of the car and have a foot on the ground. Generally, though, you don't hear of cars being struck or you would be strongly discouraged from ever driving during a lightening storm.

Understand that I'm not a lightning expert -- but know a fair amount about electricity.

I was once in a TV production truck which was "struck." It certainly did fun things to the equipment -- but I suspect that we were really close to a strike, as oppossed to actually being hit directly.

Any time lightning strikes a person, there is an entry and exit point and any internal organs in that path could be seriously burned, or otherwise affected, so again, I don't think it makes much difference if one or both feet are on the ground.