Question

why car act as non-conductor while lighting during raining season?

Answer 1

So there appears to be quite a bit of misinformation on the web as to why people should stay in their cars during a thunderstorm. So I'd like to clear some things up. One such non-nonsensical answer is that cars have rubber tires which insulate you from the ground. I believe this contributes little to nothing to the actual reason.

The "correct" answer appears to be because the car acts like a Faraday cage. The metal in the car will shield you from any external electric fields and thus prevent the lightning from traveling within the car.

However, what happens if you have an imperfect Faraday cage around you? Say for example, you had a window open. I think the car would still protect you a) because it still acts as a Faraday cage, albeit a bit not perfect and b) because electrons will travel the path of least resistance which would be through the body of the car and not through you.

Now going with my b) reasoning, wouldn't you be just as safe standing next to a giant conductive pole (i.e. a lightning rod)? Wouldn't the lightning just go through the lightning rod and you'd be 100% safe?

Answer 2

In strong electric fields, rubber tires actually become more conductive than insulating. You're safe in a car because the lightning will travel around the surface of the vehicle and then go to ground. This occurs because the vehicle acts like a Faraday cage.