This is either the most unlucky person in the world, or the luckiest. Either way, they should probably go buy a lottery ticket or something.

You Have a Better Chance of Getting Struck by Lightning

You have probably heard the phrase "you have a better chance of getting struck by lightning," meaning something is very unlikely to happen. The reason that phrase exists is because the chance of you getting struck by lightning is very slim. According to the National Weather Service, the odds of you getting struck by lightning are about 1 in 1.2 million. So those are pretty good odds in favor of not getting struck. They also say that about 90% of people who are struck by lightning survive.

According to the NWS Storm Data, over the last 30 years (1989-2018) the U.S. has averaged 43 reported lightning fatalities per year. Only about 10% of people who are struck by lightning are killed, leaving 90% with various degrees of disability. More recently, in the last 10 years (2009-2018), the U.S. has averaged 27 lightning fatalities.

However, on April 29th, 2025 a car travelling on an Indiana interstate had some of the unluckiest odds ever.

Credit: Yorktown Fire Department

Car Travelling on an Indiana Interstate Gets Struck By Lightning

The Yorktown Fire Department shared photos of a car fire they had to put out on the morning of April 29th, when a car traveling on I-69 was struck by lightning and subsequently caught fire.

This morning YFD along with Delaware County Emergency Medical Services and Gaston Volunteer Fire/EMS Department were dispatched to the 241 Mile Marker on I-69 for a medical emergency after a vehicle was struck by lightning while traveling on I-69. Once arriving on scene crews found a SUV with heavy fire involvement due to the lightning strike.

YFD units on scene
Rescue 68
Sqaud 60

Credit: Yorktown Fire Department

The post didn't have any information about the driver, so I searched for this incident online, and I found an article from WTHR that reached out to the fire department and they said no injuries were reported, so that is good news.

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This is either the luckiest person alive or the unluckiest, depending on how you look at it. On one hand, it's extremely unlucky that not only were they struck by lightning, but they were struck by lightning WHILE driving, the odds of that happening must be bananas. But they are lucky they weren't injured, so maybe they should go buy a lottery ticket! I'd probably stay home the rest of the day if that were me.