People often do not seek shelter in heavy lightning because they feel that being inside a car is sufficient protection. But the Faraday principle, which people invoke to make their case, has a few issues when it comes to cars.
Although the point of contact, the tires, remain an efficient non conductive material, the rest of the car, being heavily modified in the past decades, might not be what it was cracked up to be when it comes to full protection against lightning.
The issue at hand, is the integrity of the Faraday cage. If any point of the cage is interrupted the lightning charge can then enter the cavity in which the person is seeking protection from the strike.
One example is having the window even slightly cracked. More importantly, many cars today are not made of an exterior which is fully made of steel or metal, but incorporated a body or sections with lesser material such as fiberglass of breaks due to a convertible top which can cause the 'cage' to be interrupted.
Another safety issue is not to touch any metal surfaces inside the car, if there are any, since any metal parts are equally electrified as the exterior of the car.
The lack of awareness of lightning strike dangers has caused nearly 19 people do die in the US in 2013 alone. These people were not in vehicles, but people do need to be aware of the dangers that more modern cars pose.
The tips to minimize danger in a storm are : pull over, turn engine off, and put hands on one's lap to avoid touching any part of the car interior, including door and window handles, gear shifts and such. Golf carts and riding mowers however are not safe to ride during a storm.
Source : Live Science/ 9.5.13
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