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Those Rubber Strips on Cars

oldrover said:
I think I remember that documentary, if it's the one I'm thinking of they showed an old film of a car's interior following a fatal accident, saying how though the car was relatively unscathed the driver had been either dashed to bits on the interior or thrown to their deaths, and realising while watching that I drove the same model.
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yeah that was the one.
 
I remember my cousin had one on the back of the car, as their eldest daughter got carsick, although I doubt it worked - unless she held onto said strip and got dragged along behind the car! Carsickness would then be the last of her worries!
 
Update to this in the letters pages of FT267. Some now say that the strips are to prevent tyres bursting in lightning storms (has that ever happened?!), prevent car radio interference, and stopping the car picking up too much dust and dirt (useful in dusty countries). All these are new ones to me.

What nobody seems to have done is call up a company that makes these strips and ask them what the hell they're meant to be used for! Unless they don't know either?
 
You know what? We should get Mythbusters to check whether all these claims are a load of old tosh. Because I think they are.
 
I actually saw one of them the other day - it probably wouldn't have registered in my head if it wasn't for this thread.

It was on a current model Toyota Camry. It didn't touch the ground and was mounted to a plastic bumper as all cars have these days.

What good could it possibly do? I've no idea.
 
BlackRiverFalls said:
Do they have the rubber strip thingys in the US?
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They do according to one of the letters. Dunno for sure.
 
I Summon The Power of Goooogle!


Yup, the have then in the US, and some people seem to think they stop motion sickness as well as static shocks:

- http://www.mizter.com/testimonials.htm

- And I bet nobody has ever been killed by lightnining in a car trailing one either...
 
wembley9 said:
- And I bet nobody has ever been killed by lightnining in a car trailing one either...
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Wouldn't the car be more likely to get struck, as the strip acts as a ground?
 
I think Webley's referring to the metal car body being a faraday cage so the passengers would be safe?

One might imagine that for the distance the lightening can arc that last few inches isn;t much odds.
 
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