Image by ZEMScience
I write this just as I am drying off after being caught in the typical Malaysian thunderstorm. Soaked, I am still grateful for the rain as it offers a much deserved respite from the haze. There are no hard facts to support this, but it is probably okay to say every motorcyclist has had to ride in the rain at least once before. There is no getting away from it. And we all know that it is daunting, scary even. Especially when you have to look out for psycho drivers and pot holes filled with water, rendering them invisible to the rider.
Image by Motorcycle-Central
But it was also in that moment when lightning struck nearby, and left the hair on my neck at an end, that I wondered if I were safe. If I was a sitting duck. As freaked as I was, that moment was the inspiration for this story. So can a motorcycle rider get struck by lightning while on the move?
Of course you can get hit!
Image by Basement Rejects
Some years ago, a man near Seattle was struck by a bolt of lightning while riding on the highway. The lightning apparently hit the 59 year old rider’s helmet. It didn’t blow him up or whatever, apparently the man just pulled aside the highway in a daze, unsure of what had just happened. Someone stopped and told him he had just been struck by lightning. The person reportedly said that he saw his helmet and motorcycle light up, it was a “direct hit”. Police and firefighters say that the bolt of lightning blew out the shield of his helmet, tore up the interior padding and melted wiring both in the helmet and on the bike. He was taken to the hospital with burns to his ears and neck. You can read the full story here. And then there is the case of the guy who got struck by lightning at high speed, crashed and still survived. This happened just this past August, 2015. Doctors said that surviving that one is a one in a million chance. Check out the video below or click here to read the whole story.
And then there is the real life confession in a forum from a man who claims to have been hit twice in a matter of minutes and was still okay to ride home. But then he mentioned being abducted by aliens and it all went weird from there. The screenshot of his posting is posted below, pun intended.
Surprisingly you don’t hear of this happening this side of the world (the previous two cases occurred in the States), especially in lightning friendly Malaysia.
Image by Kilat Malaysia
But on how to keep yourself safe? Apparently if you are riding in the vicinity of tall buildings around KL or a major city, then you should be fine. But out on the highway and in open fields, you are fair game. Metal attracts lightning, we all know that. But even if the lightning does not directly hit you, it can faze you long enough to cause a crash. And you would be wrong to think that the rubber tyres will offer insulation, that theory does not work for cars either. A motorcycle does not offer the simple Faraday Cage effect that a car does (WTF is a Faraday Cage?), so it will be your body and bike that takes the brunt of it all. If you ever find yourself stuck in the usual Malaysian tropical storm, basic riding tips will tell you to get off the highway and stop in a safe area and move at least 50 feet away from your bike. Besides, you really shouldn’t be riding when it’s raining that hard.
Image by Quotesgram
But if you are riding in an open area, Google will tell you that you should stop riding, get off your bike, find a ditch or a low area, and sit crouching down, protecting your heart. Lying down flat is also said to work. So there it is then, haze seasons seems to be at an end and the afternoon monsoons are here. Most of us are bound to get soaked down to our underwear in the next few months, but watch for that bolt of lightning, there is no walking away from that one. And if you think lightning never strikes in the same place twice, lets take a moment to remember the brother in this old video.
