Will it have caused any damage ?

I saw what I thought was part of a tree hanging down and across the road this morning. I drove around it but obviously not completely because as I passed it (or thought I had) there were several loud bangs and blue flashes. I paniced and drove away as fast as I could but I could still see the blue flashes in my rear view mirror. Unbeknown to me at the time a mains power cable had come down and I had obviously touched it as I drove past - can it cause any damage to my electrical items. I have been in a bit of shock since and haven't really checked the car.

Hi, a bit hard to say with any certainty but if the car's still driving OK, and there aren't any new warning lights then you've *probably* got away without frying anything important. HTH, Pete

Thanks for your reply - I've just been out to collect my son from school and the bulb blown warning light is now permanently on so is the abs & tracs light - would the voltage from the power cable cause this or is it just an unlucky coincidence ?

The live cable would have touched the car's frame which would have a tendency to earth it. You wouldn't generally expect any current from the live cable to flow through the car's components - it would naturally seek the easiest route to earth through the tyres (they'd be damp enough to conduct). HOWEVER, a large voltage instantaneuosly distributed across the frame may cause a temporary disruption to current flow in the car's 12v components with unpredictable results. You need to have the codes read probably. Regards.

It may have resulted from the electric charge and upset the ecu, cant be too sure, maybe take it to someone with a fault coder reader. Blimey that must have freaked you out when you saw the flash, lucky you was not on a bicycle or you could have been toast:lightning:

Thank you. Yes it did freak me out and I felt very shaken for a while. The tyres, for what its worth, were very wet as it was been raining. We have a reputable chap nearby so'll take the car along there. I don't know too much about electricity but all I could think about was that I had basically driven a metal box over a live mains cable and that I was very, very lucky.

A thought. As this was an accident it may be worth contacting your insurance company to see if the damage is covered.

The damage this sort of thing may cause cannot really be easily assessed. Sometimes welding something which has some electrical items connected can cause no damage at all, and sometimes blow the whole lot up. I would have though it likely that if the power cable made a connection with your car, it was through the exposed metal of the wheels or brake components as surely most of your car's metal should be covered to prevent corrosion. Strangely enough being inside a car is a very safe place to be if the car is struck by lightning (Faraday's cage). I remember seeing a very old Top Gear where they drove a car under a device which repeatedly "struck" the car with very high voltage and the driver never felt a thing. I think the car was unharmed as well.