When it comes to being “struck down”, even if it’s not a direct hit, generally speaking you’re pretty safe as far as losing a one on one battle against a bolt of lightning.
Unless you’re the New York Rangers, of course. Sorry! Just had to!
But believe it or not, these types of things occur more often than you would imagine. Even though we see trees as the main victims here, planes, cars and of course people gets struck by lightning all the time.
According to NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the U.S alone averaged 51 annual lightning strike fatalities over the last 20 years. The total of people that get hit and don’t find their way into Valhalla is actually much greater.
Lucky for most of us that whenever we’re traveling, be it by plane or by car, we’re pretty well protected when inside. In fact, what happens is that when that bolt hits your car, the charge goes around the outside of the vehicle creating a Faraday effect, protecting those inside.
This used to still be a problem back in the days when you had to roll up/down your windows. In fact, last year one man was fatally struck while rolling up the windows on his car, which means that chance also plays a role, no matter how safe your vehicle is.
Which brings us to the video in question. The owner of the car posted the video saying that the lightning strike happened near to the car, while it was charging. So even though this wasn’t a direct impact, the Tesla Model S still went coo coo for cocoa puffs.
The battery almost flat-lined and then the car couldn’t get towed because the supercharger cable was stuck. Further more, Sarah (the car’s owner) had to wait until Monday for Tesla to send somebody over, since the service center wasn’t open during the weekend.