Is it actually safe to be in a car during a lightning storm?

Always heard cars are safe in lightning because of the rubber tires. Is that actually true, or is that a myth?

It's mostly true, but the commonly cited reason (rubber tires) is actually a myth — tires don't provide meaningful insulation against a lightning strike, which can carry hundreds of millions of volts. The real reason a metal-roofed car is relatively safe is that it acts as a partial Faraday cage: the strike's current tends to travel along the outside of the metal frame and body rather than through the interior, then discharges to the ground through the vehicle's contact points. For this to work, you generally need to stay inside the car with the windows up and avoid touching metal surfaces connected to the exterior of the vehicle during the storm. It doesn't apply to convertibles, motorcycles, golf carts, or cars with fiberglass/soft-top construction, which don't offer the same enclosed metal shell. And as the Utah I-15 incident shows, being safe from electrocution doesn't mean the vehicle itself is guaranteed to be undamaged — electrical systems, fuel lines, and tires can still be damaged or even ignite from a direct strike, so pulling over and exiting quickly if you notice smoke, loss of power, or damage after a suspected strike is the right move.