It is not because of the rubber tires! Many people think the rubber tires of a car provide insulation from the lightning striking the ground. If this were the case, wouldn’t riding a bicycle do the same thing? The real reason why a car is a safe place to be when struck by lightning is because most cars have metal bodies, which act as Faraday Cages, keeping all the electrical charge on the outside of the car. Since the charge is kept on the outside of the vehicle, the person sitting inside the car is kept perfectly neutral and safe. It is the shielding of the metal car body, and not the rubber tires, that protects people in automobiles.