Woman killed by lightning strike on motorbike in Pathumthani province

[webfact]

Woman killed by lightning strike on motorbike
By Coconuts Bangkok


Photo: Bruce Guenter

BANGKOK: -- A 24-year-old woman was killed after she was struck by lightning while riding on the back of her brother's motorcycle outside of Bangkok.

Lightning killed Issaraporn Lertking instantly and her 4-year-old son, who was sitting in the middle, and her 17-year-old brother were injured when the bike crashed as they rode through Soi Khlong 5 in Pathumthani province in the pouring rain on Sunday.

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2015/08/03/woman-killed-lightning-strike-motorbike

-- Coconuts Bangkok 2015-08-03

[MaeJoMTB]

It would seem unlikely, as the rubber tires would not provide a path to earth.

Crashed after a lightning strike nearby maybe?

[hkt83100]

It would seem unlikely, as the rubber tires would not provide a path to earth.

Crashed after a lightning strike nearby maybe?

Probably the tyres were wet and water has a certain amount of connectivity

[krisb]

Yeah but you've still being hit by lightning grounded or not right?

[zziffle]

The rubber tires provide no more insulation against lightening than do rubber flip-flops: i.e., none. It's trivial for a lightning bolt to jump the small gap between the bike's metal parts and the ground. After all, it has just jumped a gap of a kilometre or so from the clouds.

The reason why motorbike lightening deaths are much more common than those from automobile strikes is that the current travels around the people inside cars through the metal body, but of course motorbike riders are not so shielded.

Never ride a bike in the vicinity of active lightening.

[Tywais]

It would seem unlikely, as the rubber tires would not provide a path to earth.

Crashed after a lightning strike nearby maybe?

Photograph on a Thai news site shows a hole in the seat where it hit. I'll not show the victim in the street, just the MC photo. BTW, the potential of a lightning streamer is in the millions of volts so those tires aren't going to help at all. Not the same as a power line falling.

[fatfather]

The rubber tires provide no more insulation against lightening than do rubber flip-flops: i.e., none. It's trivial for a lightning bolt to jump the small gap between the bike's metal parts and the ground. After all, it has just jumped a gap of a kilometre or so from the clouds.

The reason why motorbike lightening deaths are much more common than those from automobile strikes is that the current travels around the people inside cars through the metal body, but of course motorbike riders are not so shielded.

Never ride a bike in the vicinity of active lightening.

Faraday's cage is it called. A car is always safe. (the founders name may be spelled wrong, sorry for this)

Fatfather

[Crossy]

Not far from us, we had a bit of rain c/w flash & bang but nothing really serious.

Wifey is now terrified that it will come and get her in the kitchen despite us having a direct hit to the roof a couple of years back that just took off some ridge tiles (and fried some electronics).

[daiwill60]

It would seem unlikely, as the rubber tires would not provide a path to earth.

Crashed after a lightning strike nearby maybe?

If everything is wet then water will conduct electricity to earth, even more so than if dry, don't they teach anything worthwhile in schools these days , in order to stop people doing stupid things , like riding a bike in the rain . ???

But I understand your ignorance, because , yes if they were in a car they would have the effect of the Faraday Cage principle, where the electricity would dissapate throughout the whole body of the car, but even then, that is still no 100% guarantee as recent videos circulating on the internet demonstrated .

https://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGHP_enTH626TH626&q=lightning+hits+and+destroys+car

Edited August 3, 2015 by daiwill60

[cooked]

My wife told me that Thai news said the girl died because she had a push up bra with steel supports. Poo poo I said, poo poo.

I have been in a car that was struck by lightening and I can assure you that nobody moved for about five minutes, we had headaches and were in shock. Wasn't my car luckily and I don't know if it was usable afterwards.

[ratcatcher]

The rubber tires provide no more insulation against lightening than do rubber flip-flops: i.e., none. It's trivial for a lightning bolt to jump the small gap between the bike's metal parts and the ground. After all, it has just jumped a gap of a kilometre or so from the clouds.

The reason why motorbike lightening deaths are much more common than those from automobile strikes is that the current travels around the people inside cars through the metal body, but of course motorbike riders are not so shielded.

Never ride a bike in the vicinity of active lightening.

Faraday's cage is it called. A car is always safe. (the founders name may be spelled wrong, sorry for this)

Fatfather

Quite correct FF, Michael Faraday, a dynamic 19th century English inventor with a magnetic personality.

[balo]

Poor girl, very unlucky to be hit by lightning , even in Thailand.

Yes I would never sit on a bike during a thunder storm , but Thais seem to not care and drive bikes in all kind of weather.

[JohnThailandJohn]

My wife told me that Thai news said the girl died because she had a push up bra with steel supports. Poo poo I said, poo poo.

I have been in a car that was struck by lightening and I can assure you that nobody moved for about five minutes, we had headaches and were in shock. Wasn't my car luckily and I don't know if it was usable afterwards.

I've heard this before (not this incident) and a quick Google search reveals it seems possible.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=348&dat=19820617&id=sgQuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5jIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6560,2094604&hl=en

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/women-died-after-lightning-struck-bra-wire-26136750.html

[DGS1244]

She died because the lightning strike hit her directly, the tyres paid no part in it. If she was surrounded by unearthed metal i.e. a car then that would have been a different matter altogether. In Thailand many golf caddies get killed each year, mainly because they think they are immune, how wrong they are. KL in Malaysia has the highest strike rate in the world and in land terms we are not far from that location.

[jossthaifarang]

2 young lives lost to ignorance once again, RIP. As for the brother he is one extremely lucky guy.

[jossthaifarang]

Or is the story that the child and brother were only injured, I cant tell? The grammar in this story is terrible mate..

Doesn't anyone edit these stories before publication?

Edited August 4, 2015 by jossthaifarang

[NickJ]

I wouldnt say ignorance. Many people get caught in storms here and have to scramble home between showers. It's just a sad event.

[little mary sunshine]

OMG. So sad, What are the chances of this happening?

[northernphil]

Or is the story that the child and brother were only injured, I cant tell? The grammar in this story is terrible mate..

Doesn't anyone edit these stories before publication?

i have re read the article and I agree. First read, the headline said Woman killed not her son . Then we read she was killed and her son............hmmm ,how many were killed.

[sunshine51]

It would seem unlikely, as the rubber tires would not provide a path to earth.

Crashed after a lightning strike nearby maybe?

Photograph on a Thai news site shows a hole in the seat where it hit. I'll not show the victim in the street, just the MC photo. BTW, the potential of a lightning streamer is in the millions of volts so those tires aren't going to help at all. Not the same as a power line falling.

Capture.JPG

Good info Tywais. Lightning is little understood even in this day and age and why this is so, considering that there are

storms & other conditions which can produce lightning happening 24/7/365 is mainly due to one thing; its duration...ie...

the duration of a single discharge which is usually in the milisecond range. Plus the random nature of each individual

strike/discharge.

From a Wiki link..."An average bolt of negative lightning carries a current of 30 kiloamperes, transfers a charge of 5

coulombs, has a potential difference of about 100 megavolts and dissipates 500 megajoules."

That said there have been some measurements of the current & voltage capacity of discharges and these vary for

each individual discharge or so it appears. Millions to billions of volts for the difference in potential and a somewhat

"normal" range for the amperes generated during a discharge which can be around 10,000 to 50,000 Amps. This

seems to be a standard of sorts because some discharges have been recorded in the billions of volts with the

resulting Amps produced well over 200,000. 100 million+ Volt discharges are not uncommon either while the

billion volt ones are supposedly quite rare.

One relatively new discovery is that lightning also produces X-Rays. The how & why of it is not yet known and you

can bet a few Baht that this effect is being studied in earnest. However...like the simple volt/amp studies of lightning

and why lightning is so random...the reason why X-Rays are also produced will not be understood for quite some time.

If anyone is interested in lightning Wiki has a pretty good page on it...Google "Lightning" and click on the Wiki link

Here's a couple more that are a fair bit technical for those folks with a scientific interest in one of the planets least

understood phenomena...

http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1997/BrookeHaramija.shtml

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/lightning2.html

http://www.aharfield.co.uk/lightning-protection-services/about-lightning

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-362129.html

From George Carlin...."Ever wonder how fast lightning would be if it didn't zig-zag?

[HidyHo]

Or is the story that the child and brother were only injured, I cant tell? The grammar in this story is terrible mate..

Doesn't anyone edit these stories before publication?

Ah ... another Engrish expert who understands the crux of the matter.

[Bear0Mack]

It's easy to think that they were ignorant or stupid.

If you have 3 people riding on a motorbike in the rain, do you think they would rather be in a car? Do you think they could afford a car? Also, do you think they can afford to wait for hours on end for the rain to stop when they work 12 to 16 hour days just to make ends meet?

It's a terrible situation to be in. Poor guys.

[cooked]

Not far from us, we had a bit of rain c/w flash & bang but nothing really serious.

Wifey is now terrified that it will come and get her in the kitchen despite us having a direct hit to the roof a couple of years back that just took off some ridge tiles (and fried some electronics).

My grandmother watched what I believe you call balls of lightening come out of a stove pipe and buzz around all over the wall. She showed me the burn marks years later. Now that would wakr your wife up!

[arrowsdawdle]

Poor girl, very unlucky to be hit by lightning , even in Thailand.

Yes I would never sit on a bike during a thunder storm , but Thais seem to not care and drive bikes in all kind of weather.

Of course, so long as they have their amulet on.

[lap82]

She's made a terible mistake. I hope at least she can RIP

[Tywais]

One relatively new discovery is that lightning also produces X-Rays. The how & why of it is not yet known and you

can bet a few Baht that this effect is being studied in earnest. However...like the simple volt/amp studies of lightning

and why lightning is so random...the reason why X-Rays are also produced will not be understood for quite some time.

A research group forces a lightning strike by tying a copper wire to a rocket and sending it off into the clouds. The below video demonstrates their success in filming x-rays in lightning. The camera shutter speed is 1/10,000,000 of a second and the entire move done in 2.5 millionths of a second.

[lavezzi]

It would seem unlikely, as the rubber tires would not provide a path to earth.

Crashed after a lightning strike nearby maybe?

a lightning hitting the ground at 1mt from you will hit you anyway

RIP

[BKKBrit]

She was also using an umbrella that was open according to other Thai news web sites.

[sammygood]

i never cared to go out of the pool when it was raining or even storming

might reconsider

[Transporter]

I dont understand why Thai people carry on as normal, even planting rice during a Thunder Storm. My wife says they have no choice as they need to finish it. What? Risk your life for the sake of coming back tomorrow to finish it. RIP poor lady. Very lucky that the two children were only injured and the older one can take care of the little one. So sad!