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Tom: How can you tell if your car has been hit by lightning? Well, if the headlights are permanently fused in the “on” position, that’s a good indicator.

Ray: Or if you start discovering, during the next few days and weeks, that other electronic components no longer function, or function incorrectly.

Tom: Or if there’s a huge pile of charred steel and smoke where the car used to be. That’s a hint that even my brother would pick up on.

Ray: I don’t think your uncle’s car took a direct hit, Shannon, but obviously there was some high voltage very close to the car. My guess is that somehow, the headlight relay got energized, and its contacts melted and fused together, so it could not be disengaged by the switch.

Tom: I’d guess that replacing the headlight relay will allow you to operate the headlights normally again. The question is, Was anything else affected?

Ray: The worst-case scenario (other than the above-mentioned charred heap of smoking steel) is that the voltage surge fried your computer and some wiring harnesses. That would keep the car from running at all, and would be expensive to repair.

Tom: But there are plenty of other, smaller insults that can be caused by proximate lightning. So have Unc test all of his lights, blinkers, accessories, etc.