What's more dangerous, lightning or motorcycle?
 

The odds against being struck by lightning are 606,944 to one.

The odds against being killed on a motorcycle are 1,250 to one.

I didn't make this up, this is the way I found this information.

Note: There was nearly a full page of warnings about lightning in the Daily Sun but no warnings about motorcycle riding.

Good luck to those who seek to protect their homes with lightning rods etc.: A lightning strike discharges from 10 to 100 million volts of electricity and the air temperature around lightning is about 6 times hotter than the surface of the sun. Therefore, since lightning rods don't attract lightning, a massive lightning strike can hit your house anywhere it chooses and still cause a fire.

So what's your point? That we shouldn't ride motorcycles???

You can find statistics for anything...

Well said. Too many cries of lightning issues for the actual amount of damage done. Good for spike and cable installers though.

It is more dangerous to ride lightening than to ride a motorcycle.
What did I win?

I see many riders in FL not wearing a helmet. I've been an owner and rider of motorcycles for almost 50 years. Always would wear a helmet. But I like that it is a choice here in FL. Those that don't wear a helmet I call organ donors.

What's more dangerous , lightning or a motorcycle?

The more dangerous is a lightning fast mortorcycle Zooooooooooooooom

I'll take my chances on a motorcycle. At least with a motorcycle, you have a little control over the event happening. We've had a motorcycle almost the entire 45 years we've been together. My theory is that my husband doesn't want to die any more than I do, so he'll be careful. So far so good, but we have moved on to a TriGlide. Three wheels are safer than two.

I am not a fan of donor-cycles but I question the data you have presented. Would you please link your source? Wikipedia shows about 4500 - 5000 deaths a year on motorcycles. It does not give a denominator of the number of people who ride motorcycles. Is your figure 1/1250 riders die or is it 1/1250 Americans die? Per year or per lifetime? Everyone is exposed to the risk of lightning, some more than others, but not everyone is exposed to the risk of death on a motorcycle.

NWS Lightning Safety: Understanding Lightning Introduction gives odds using averages for the last ten years, and gives the odds of being personally struck by lightning as 1/12000 over a lifetime of 80 years (struck not killed) Odds of being affected by a lightning strike in your life 1/1200 as 10 people are affected by an average event. Keep in mind that lightning events are not evenly distributed over the population. Higher risk in Florida obviously. One would also need to have data such as hours at risk to death while riding a motorcycle vs hours at risk while outdoors with an electrical storm in the vicinity. It all gets very complicated. I do agree, no matter how you do the calculation, motorcycle riding is much more dangerous than being out in a thunderstorm.

I think the main thrust of OP is to question whether or not lightning rods work. It is a good question because there really hasn't been a lot of research on it. The current standard of thought by the experts seems to be that having lightning rods may improve your chances of having your house survive a strike without damage, but is no guarantee. Current U.S. lightning protection standards are embodied in a document published by the National Fire Protection Association known as NFPA 780. First issued in 1904 and updated periodically since, NFPA 780 codifies the traditional lightning rod installation, in which sharpened metal "air terminals" known as Franklin rods are connected to an earth ground by means of heavy conductors. A lightning bolt strikes a Franklin rod and is carried harmlessly to earth by the grounding apparatus, sparing lives and property. Though technically voluntary, NFPA 780 has been adopted by many local jurisdictions and government agencies and is the de facto national code. As stated by OP, the lightning can hit anywhere on your house. But if it does hit the highest point of your house that is protected by properly installed rods, then the current will pass through the rod and wire and into the ground.

Makes No Sense
 

It makes absolutely zero sense for anyone to try to sell against the use of lightning rods. It is cheap insurance if it does nothing else but produce a sense of peace of mind for the insured. Having this additional level of security has NO DOWNSIDE. Not having it has NO UPSIDE. If you consider saving $1500 (one time) an upside, then try to remind yourself that is YOUR upside, not your neighbors who just might take your advice.

It wasn't the point to tell people what they should or shouldn't do. I found it interesting and thought I would share it.

About lightning protection equipment: I had an electrician install surge protectors in my electric box last year. Step one: They frighten you by telling you that all of your appliances can be destroyed by lightning. Step two: They tell you, after they start the job, that there's no guarantee it will work in the case of a massive strike.

The sales pitch came after I called him for another job that was unrelated to the surge protectors.

I have lived full time in central Florida for about 45 years and in all that time I have never had any lightning protection. What did I lose? One old microwave oven.

Or riding a motorcycle in a thunderstorm.

While texting.

Damn right.

If my question had been asked previously, I apologize in advance.

Do lightning rods also serve as a lightning attractor? In other words, if two identical homes were next to one another (same height, etc.) and one had lightning rods, would there be any increased propensity for the "protected" home to be struck?