Once Upon a Time

Ever After

Once upon a time a Man commuted for work into NYC on Northern State Parkway.  Married with an infant and another child on the way.  He had a nice home and liked his job.  

It was a beautiful sunny day, the sky was clear and as usual early AM traffic was light.  He was keeping up with traffic, doing about 75 MPH, car next to him doing the same.  Along with 2 cars driving behind him.  All 4 cars going at same speed, the skies were clear, good driving conditions.  Suddenly his tire blows out,  pulls him to the right, sideswiping the car driving in lane next to him. This creates a chain reaction and the cars behind them crash into them.  Man wakes up 2 weeks later out of a medical induced comma. He had been pulled out by the jaws of life and lost his right leg.  But even worse, the man in the car next to him was killed in the crash.  He also was married with an infant child.  The survivor lived the rest of his life wondering if he had been driving a little slower would the man in the other car survived. Does 5 MPH make a difference? He spent the rest of his life celebrating milestones with his family thinking of the child who was left without a father. There was no way to avoid the tire blow out, but would it of made a difference if he was driving the speed limit.

If a front tire bursts, you should feel the force mostly within the steering of your vehicle. With a rear tire, you should feel it more in the seat or body of the car. Whether the blowout occurred in the front or back, your response should be the same in either situation.

What to do

According to the National Safety Council here is what to do if you experience a tire blowout.

• Keep a firm grip on the steering wheel.
• Do not slam on the brakes.
• Let your car slow down gradually.
• Pull to the side of the road once you have slowed to a safe speed.
• Activate your emergency flashers.