Paranoid of ELECTRIC SHOCK, please help, incident with car interior lights?

Question

Before practice my friend asked if I would take a look at a new addition to his car. He had inserted "pimp out" lights the night before and wanted me to check it out. I accepted his request and sat down in the driver’s seat staring down at the lights-- which were located near the bottom of the floor to the left of the sterring wheel. Seconds later the car began to smoke. Supposedly the wire had short circuited. He explained that he had installed the lights the night before, connecting the wires to the engines rather than the fuse box in a rushed manner. When the engine overheated, the wires in result melted, thus causing the smoke. With my fear of electricity, this is the worst that could happen to me.

Is it possible electric shock could result from such an incident?

Answer 1

A small electric shock - the only power is a car battery.  It's not like it could really hurt you.

Answer 2

12v you won't even feel.

ignition voltage is much higher-  i've been zapped more times than i can remember by plugs and coils.  on newer cars the ignition voltages are much higher and could potentially do you damage, but thats thousands of volts-  much more than 12.

Answer 3

12 volts and 15-20 amps could not harm you, by shock. However they are extremely hot and can burn you if  come in contact with them. Even worse is the risk of fire. By hooking the wires, unfused, directly to the battery, the melting wires could cause an under hood fire which could destroy the car and harm the occupants.

Answer 4

Not having a go at you personally but all the others who say that a 12 volt

car battery can do you no harm.Start up your car, open the bonnet,

remove one of the spark plug leads stick your finger into the lead and

touch your other hand onto a bare metal part of the engine then come back and tell me it didn`t hurt a bit.You could argue that it was the ignition coil that gave the shock but it`s the battery that powers the ignition coil in the first place.

Answer 5

you should go to the doctor, because you never know.

once i flicked my indicator and a blue spark flew at me, but im fine my dad said you can't get eletrocuted from such a low volt battery =|

Answer 6

Auto electric is only twelve volts DC, so there is no shock hazard. You can get nasty burns from the hot wires and melting plastic insulation however !

Answer 7

At 12 Volts DC you may feel a tingle if you're wet.  On dry skin you will most likely not even detect it.  Your worst case scenario for this situation is the car catches fire, gas tank go boom..  

Those neon or fluorescent accent lights have a circuit called an inverter that ramps the voltage up to several thousand volts to drive the tube.  You can get a serious shock from these but only if the case is compromised.

When it comes to automobile electrical follow the instructions and do it right.  Shoddy workmanship will come back and bite you.