If you drive a convertible with the top down, or a car made entirely of fiberglass or carbon fiber, you lose the Faraday cage effect. You’re basically a target with no armor. In a storm, pull over and find a solid building.
For the rest of us in standard metal cars, it’s a weirdly reassuring thought: you are safer in a moving car during a lightning storm than you are walking into your house. The house has wires and pipes that can conduct electricity to you. The car? It wraps you in a cozy metallic hug.
Can Cars Get Struck by Lightning? - C For Cars
The Crazier Fact: Planes Get Hit All The Time
Commercial airplanes get struck by lightning about once a year, on average. And they’re fine. They use the exact same principle—the energy flows across the aluminum skin and out the tail. So, you’ve probably been struck before while flying and didn’t even notice!
This makes the car situation feel less like a freak accident and more like a regular, survivable event. It turns a scary topic into a science party trick.
