Quote from DragonCommando :

Its actualy realy simple why it happens, you are actualy the one being charged, either you are moving around in the seat, or your clothes are rubbing creating a static charge. When you touch the door you ground out and then ZAP, you get a shock.

My old Ford E-150 used to do that all the time, I'd go to get out and I'd touch the door handel on the inside and get a shock. Sometimes my 6.5L turbo diesel does it too.

Generaly this will happen more often in lower humidity conditions because there is less moister to dissipate the charge to the nearest ground.

i get this aswell, its only seriously dangerous if your an OAP as when they go to petrol stations... filling the tank, getting in and out of the car... only 1 touch of a drop of petrol the place is up in flames.


never enter you car when your filling up...

your car is secretly KITT and it has an electronic defence program.

I had that problem too for quite some time, but I think I could narrow it down to my shoes...

Try wearing different pairs of shoes!

I have some pairs that isolate more and some that isolate less...

My geography teacher has this, can't touch anything electrical, metal or the whiteboard. We have to do her computer work, light switching on/off, whiteboard writing, really cool, and only came on last week too.

Attach polystyrene to the base of your shoes?

I think you have new shoes or something like that
But it can easily be fixed in 2 ways:

1. Take it like a man and especially when it´s dark watch closely and put your finger very slow on the metal. The lightning striking you is "harder" then and it looks quite cool!

2. Open your door and get your hand on something with Metal. In my car it´s the door handle. If it is made of plastic in your car, grab the metal of the door and THEN put the foot down. Nothing will happen then. The electricity still goes through your body, but you will not notice it.

Remembered when grabbing the door fast it doesn´t hurt as much? The slower you do it, the harder the strike is, but the cooler it looks :-) If you use the "grab some metal before putting the foot down to exit the car" method you won´t get that nice visual effects, but it will solve you problem

Always carry a lightbulb with you everywhere you go. I always carry a lightbulb and any time I am going to touch my car or any metal object, I get the lightbulb out of my pocket and hold onto the end to allow the built up static to discharge. Sometimes it is built up so much you can see a slight glow in the bulb for a split second.

Don't carry the lightbulb in your back pocket for obvious reasons.

Get one of those static discharge keychains. You'll have to touch your car with the keychain gizmo first, then it's safe to touch the car.
If you're really cheap, get a 1 megaohm resistor. Works the same as the keychain or lightbulb, but only costs about 1 Zimbabwean dollar.