Author Topic: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head  (Read 2849 times)

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Offline vreihen

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https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-motorcyclist-killed-by-lightning-strike-police

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Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head: police

By Bradford Betz | Fox News

A motorcyclist was killed Sunday after a lightning bolt struck his helmet on Florida’s I-95, authorities said.

The motorcyclist was hit while traveling southbound on I-95 in Volusia County in the afternoon, according to Florida Highway Patrol.

The motorcyclist's helmet was cracked and burned from the lightning strike, officials said.


The motorcyclist's helmet was cracked and burned from the lightning strike, officials said.  (Florida Highway Patrol)

A photo posted on the agency’s official Twitter page showed the motorcyclist’s helmet cracked and burned from the apparent lightning strike.

The motorcyclist was a 45-year-old man from Charlotte, N.C., Orlando’s Fox 35 reported. His name was not released.

An off-duty Virginia trooper cited by the station said he witnessed the strike happen. The impact from the lighting caused the motorcyclist to exit the roadway and then crash, he said.
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Offline lightmaster

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2019, 05:57:10 PM »
So much for rubber tyres being 'protective insulation' against voltage.  :shock:

I hope no one really thinks lightning is capable of jumping miles and miles of open air, yet it can't jump 3 inches from rim to ground....

Offline CW2274

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2019, 06:28:12 PM »
So much for rubber tyres being 'protective insulation' against voltage.  :shock:

I hope no one really thinks lightning is capable of jumping miles and miles of open air, yet it can't jump 3 inches from rim to ground....
Are you kidding me? This ole' wive's tale goes back as far as I can remember and I'll bet 95%+ of the population thinks exactly that.

Offline vreihen

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2019, 06:48:37 PM »
I hope no one really thinks lightning is capable of jumping miles and miles of open air, yet it can't jump 3 inches from rim to ground....

My late grandmother used to always tell everyone to make sure that you're wearing rubber sole sneakers in a thunderstorm.  Probably not useful for a direct strike for the reason above, but I guess it could prevent injury from secondary charges traveling through the ground from a nearby strike.

Last month, I went insane and bought a carbon fiber chassis car.  The first thought was that it can't rust.  My second thought was that I can't get an antenna ground plane on the roof for a radio transceiver.  My third thought was that I will be a goner if it gets struck by lightning, since there's no inherent metal Faraday cage around the cabin.

Yes, there are carbon fiber components that can conduct electricity to an extent.  Given that the fiberglass DOT helmet above probably uses the same fiber resins that is used in carbon fiber components, I'm afraid that the helmet picture above will be a preview of my car's roof some day.....
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Offline CW2274

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2019, 07:04:59 PM »
I hope no one really thinks lightning is capable of jumping miles and miles of open air, yet it can't jump 3 inches from rim to ground....
My late grandmother used to always tell everyone to make sure that you're wearing rubber sole sneakers in a thunderstorm.
Well at least Grandma had sense enough to offer some protection for you kids so y'all could play in a t-storm.   [tup] :-"

Offline lightmaster

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2019, 08:16:11 PM »
Well, I defense of the wives' tale, a car can discharge the lightning around the outside of the car and not though the people inside the car. Not sure the chances of you walking away Scott Free, but certainly better than a direct hit to your head.

Also, rubber soles are really good in general IMO. I've been saved from getting shocked by an arc welder several times but of them. The soles were thick enough so I only felt my toes tingle a little.

Offline CW2274

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #6 on: June 10, 2019, 08:26:22 PM »
Well, I defense of the wives' tale, a car can discharge the lightning around the outside of the car and not though the people inside the car. Not sure the chances of you walking away Scott Free, but certainly better than a direct hit to your head.

Also, rubber soles are really good in general IMO. I've been saved from getting shocked by an arc welder several times but of them. The soles were thick enough so I only felt my toes tingle a little.
I'm talking about the tires protecting you is complete fallacy, not the car body itself, that is absolutely true. Same as the shoes, fine for arc welding, not a 10 million volt and 100 thousand amp positive lighting strike, rubber shoes and tires ain't gonna do you squat.

Offline lightmaster

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #7 on: June 10, 2019, 08:31:33 PM »
Well, I defense of the wives' tale, a car can discharge the lightning around the outside of the car and not though the people inside the car. Not sure the chances of you walking away Scott Free, but certainly better than a direct hit to your head.

Also, rubber soles are really good in general IMO. I've been saved from getting shocked by an arc welder several times but of them. The soles were thick enough so I only felt my toes tingle a little.
I'm talking about the tires protecting you is complete fallacy, not the car body itself, that is absolutely true. Same as the shoes, fine for arc welding, not a 10 million volt and 100 thousand amp positive lighting strike, rubber shoes and tires ain't gonna do you squat.

I completely forgot the first part of my sentence there, was meaning to say that that's probably how the wives' tale got started.

Offline CW2274

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #8 on: June 10, 2019, 08:37:52 PM »
Thought I'd check my recall of a positive strike, forget 10 million and 100 thousand, try 1 billion volts and 300 thousand amps.  :shock:

Offline vreihen

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #9 on: June 10, 2019, 08:43:03 PM »
Richard Hammond (aka: "Hamster" formerly of BBC TV Top Gear) did a video sitting inside a car in an artificial lightning chamber.  Not exactly on par with mother nature, but enough to illustrate the Faraday cage effect.....

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmk3lPManAc[/youtube]
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Offline lightmaster

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #10 on: June 10, 2019, 08:48:17 PM »
Thought I'd check my recall of a positive strike, forget 10 million and 100 thousand, try 1 billion volts and 300 thousand amps.  :shock:

And yet people survive that...

Which reminds me, anyone know if the motorist died from the strick or the wreck the strike caused? Can't seem to find that mentioned anywhere.

Offline miraculon

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #11 on: June 11, 2019, 08:26:41 AM »
Richard Hammond (aka: "Hamster" formerly of BBC TV Top Gear) did a video sitting inside a car in an artificial lightning chamber.  Not exactly on par with mother nature, but enough to illustrate the Faraday cage effect.....

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmk3lPManAc[/youtube]

Cool. I wonder what the paint on the car's roof looks like after this....

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Offline pekkie

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #12 on: June 11, 2019, 11:32:44 AM »
The safest way to be in case of a thunderstorm is by car. Once I am a friend of mine we were at the Monza park in Italy where they do the F1 Italian GP. And we saw it bad luckily we were in the parking lot and we had time to get into the car. A moment later lightning fell near the car.  :shock:

Offline OldAlaskaGuy

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #13 on: June 11, 2019, 01:20:54 PM »
Remember ground straps for automobiles in the 40s?

Offline Jim_S

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Re: Florida motorcyclist killed by lightning strike to the head
« Reply #14 on: June 11, 2019, 07:09:25 PM »
Are you kidding me? This ole' wive's tale goes back as far as I can remember and I'll bet 95%+ of the population thinks exactly that.
That may be true for the general population but I'd expect the percentage to be reversed here.