Can you jump-start a car from the cigarette lighter?

I have some questions for you about the use of jump leads. I have seen an advertisement that states you can plug them into the cigarette lighter socket in your car to start the engine, if your battery is flat. Surely the heavy current that is necessary for this operation is too much for the cigarette lighter wiring? When connecting up the two cables from charged battery to flat battery, the negative cable should not be connected directly onto the flat battery negative terminal, but to a metallic part of the car well away from the battery itself. Am I correct?

Asked on 3 October 2012 by JD, via email

Answered by Honest John
This is explained by the AA on my YouTube channel here: tinyurl.com/6uktze7.
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