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cannesdo's avatar
cannesdo
Explorer
Jul 26, 2014

Will lightning make your vehicle headlights turn on?

We had a doozy of a storm today and it felt for a few minutes like it was right on top of us. A few strikes felt very close...and my neighbor said at one point their car lights came on and then my truck lights came on, and they both stayed on for several minutes, then hers turned off and mine turned off. Do you supposed it struck between our vehicles at some point, or just nearby? I haven't tried to start it....

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  • MrWizard's avatar
    MrWizard
    Moderator
    Jul 26, 2014
    No it did Not strike your vehicle
    If it did , you would be posting about taking to your insurance company

    What it did do, was induce/create a current in the circuits that turned on the head light relay control, and then the control turned off at it's normal time out sequenced time was reached
  • camperpaul's avatar
    camperpaul
    Explorer
    Jul 26, 2014
    The intense magnetic field around a lightning bolt can induce a voltage/current into nearby conductors (wires etc.).

    This induced voltage sometimes reaches thousands of volts.

    You hear it on your AM radio as crackling static.

    It frequently trips the GFCI breakers in the campgrounds.

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