Great Scott! A lightning bolt hit a car while it's driving
54 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Cabbalistic;45027564]I assume that it is an attempt to avoid theft, as it means you cannot just break the window and open the door from the inside.[/QUOTE]
What stops them from getting in, starting it, and then using the power locks to unlock the doors?
Either way they have to start the car, and it's not like climbing into a window is particularly difficult if you don't weight 400 pounds. That doesn't sound like the reason. If it is, it's certainly a dumb one.
[QUOTE=Zonesylvania;45026876]1:600,000
source: [url]http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0875672.html[/url][/QUOTE]
I think he meant more of the odds of this being caught on camera.
This happened to my mom when she still had her Nova, she said it put a big burn in the hood. :v:
[QUOTE=LittleBabyman;45026971]someone make a loop of this[/QUOTE]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/AjAiqJI.gif[/img]
[QUOTE=Cloak Raider;45027313]What the fuck did nobody see the problem with this when they designed it?[/QUOTE]
I work in a cash office which has a set of electronic locks on the doors, and even they are designed to fail in the event of a power cut so I can leave if there's a fire (and they also have a set of manual bolts I can use if I need to secure myself during a power cut) - I really don't get why a metal box on wheels full of flammable liquid that can quite easily burst into flames in an accident wouldn't have the same feature, along with a manual override.
Even if it's slightly more secure, I'd rather have my car stolen then get trapped in it if it decides to catch alight.
Haha DAMN
Looks less like a lightning bolt hitting the car and more some kind of precision munition.
[QUOTE=lazyguy;45027418]I thought lightning bolts went for the tallest thing around? Why didn't it hit that telegraph pole?[/QUOTE]
What's so funny?
[QUOTE=lazyguy;45028573]What's so funny?[/QUOTE]
Probably because you said telegraph pole instead of telephone pole
Well anyway, let me explain the physics as to why it struck the car and not the pole. Lightning does not target the tallest object, but rather the object with the least resistance. Telephone poles are made out of dry wood, a material with very poor conductivity, cars are made out of steel and other metals, a lot of metals and alloys have very good conductivity. If the car wasn't there it would probably have gone through the pole because the wood has higer conductivity than the air but worse than metals.
[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;45028631]Probably because you said telegraph pole instead of telephone pole
Well anyway, let me explain the physics as to why it struck the car and not the pole. Lightning does not target the tallest object, but rather the object with the least resistance. Telephone poles are made out of dry wood, a material with very poor conductivity, cars are made out of steel and other metals, a lot of metals and alloys have very good conductivity. If the car wasn't there it would probably have gone through the pole because the wood has higer conductivity than the air but worse than metals.[/QUOTE]
Ah, I see, thank you. So the 'highest object' is only a rule for things of similar material - buildings in a town, or trees in a forest?
I still don't see what's so funny about calling them telegraph poles. I've always known them as that, I assumed it's just an old name that stuck. I know they're for electricity and phones, Lincolnshire may be backwards, but not [I]that[/I] backwards :v:
[QUOTE=urbanmonkey;45027165]Yeah, I have a 2011 Mustang and you can push the little knob into the door to lock it but there's no way to pull it back out to unlock without using the electronics.[/QUOTE]
The door handle on the inside should unlock it though, even if that pin is not easy to grasp.
some cars lock the doors when you go over 30mph
[QUOTE=notlabbet;45028759]some cars lock the doors when you go over 30mph[/QUOTE]
Well sounds fairly idiotic to not make it a fail-safe mechanism, much like how brakes work, a spring will try to force it to the unlocked position and pressure has to be applied to lock it, if you make it an electromagnet holding it in and then if the power dies the lock will immediately disengage
did they seriously not think of that eventuality of a power failure + fire in the vehicle?
[QUOTE=pentium;45027259]Who the hell OK's this stuff? That's such a safety hazard.[/QUOTE]
ford cuts corners where ever they can. the electric car safety guidlines say that you need to use orange cords for high voltage lines, instead ford just wraps the lines in an orange plastic sleave that will fall off over time.
i wouldn't be suprised if someone OK'd the removal of the door latches because it saved .93$ per car
[QUOTE=Zonesylvania;45026876]1:600,000
source: [url]http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0875672.html[/url][/QUOTE]
"What are the chances of getting struck by lightning?" is too vague of a question. Is that a 1:600,000 chance in your lifetime? What if you live in somewhere that gets tons/almost no lightning? What if you're driving about in a thunderstorm? Too many variables to really give a probability of that truck getting hit.
[QUOTE=Falubii;45028910]"What are the chances of getting struck by lightning?" is too vague of a question. Is that a 1:600,000 chance in your lifetime? What if you live in somewhere that gets tons/almost no lightning? What if you're driving about in a thunderstorm? Too many variables to really give a probability of that truck getting hit.[/QUOTE]
Average.
[QUOTE=cartman300;45028921]Average.[/QUOTE]
The source doesn't say that, but that seems right. Anyhow the chances of being struck while driving around in a thunderstorm would be increased (obviously).
[QUOTE=Tamschi;45028726]The door handle on the inside should unlock it though, even if that pin is not easy to grasp.[/QUOTE]
It does, I'm just not entirely sure if this is mechanical or relies on electronics as well.
It looked like Thor went a bit carried away while he was training.
Top Gear tested this with a Golf with Hammond inside it, only by the looks of it this car was ruined by the bolt while the Golf just suffered mis-readings on the dashboard, but everything still worked fine.
[QUOTE=urbanmonkey;45028972]It does, I'm just not entirely sure if this is mechanical or relies on electronics as well.[/QUOTE]
It's mechanical. Everyone that is bitching about not being able to pull up a knob to unlock the door should be rated dumb. Inside handles are almost always mechanical. I have a 2014 Fusion, only thing on my door where a knob would be to push/pull unlock is a red LED to state it is locked. Otherwise, it's just a typical mechanical latch from the inside handle connecting to the locking mechanism.
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