Watch a professional race...you'd think those folks would know what to do. The first thing you see when a tire blows is the wheels locking up because the driver slammed on the brakes.
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However. There is a difference in losing a front tire in a turn at 200 mph, and losing a tire on a straightaway at 60 mph. Notice the pros don't hit the brakes untill they are in the turn, and the car will not respond to the sterring wheel.
I have had flats, but never a blow out, and I've been driving for 50 years now. Yes, just lucky. Still, I think it is because so few people actually know what to do and how to react when something goes wrong. And yes, slam on the brakes, pedal to the floor is what they do.
We used to live at the foot of a bridge across a river between two hills. One morning we awoke to a brief rain storm, after a night of freezing cold. Yup, the bridge iced over, the hillsides did not. We wound up serving coffee to the drivers of the pile of cars that accumulated on our end of the bridge.
Some people came down the hill, discovered the bridge icy, and did the right thing, just coasting right on across and on up the road. The ones that wound up in the ditch atop the pile (briefly, till the next one came along) were the ones who made it most of the way, then seeing the growing pile, paniced, stomped on the brakes, and slid right onto the top of that pile. Then, of course, there was the guy who paniced as soon as he hit the bridge, locked up all four, and proceeded to pirouette the length of the bridge, whacking each fender in turn at least twice . . . before sliding off onto the pile. As far as I could tell, he never took his foot of the brake some 400 yards across that bridge. Fortunately, every car in the pile slid gently and slowly to it's resting place atop the heap, the driver scrambled out, and a moment later, another car joined the pile, 11 or 12 total, as I recall.
Same deal: don't panic, don't slam on the brakes, steer carefully, and all will be well.
Terryallan wrote: Personally. I believe it is because people can't drive any more. they never had to. all they have ever had to do is ride, and guide. but when a front, or for that matter any tire goes. you have to go from being a interested passenger to a driver RIGHT NOW. And most people have never had to drive. So they put it in the ditch. Or lock up the tires, and let it slide. As I have said before. NEVER give up. And small wheel moves are best.
I got a flat on a Class A one time right under me. I was going the speed limit or slightly below. The explosion of the tire was so great that it blew off my fender and blew a hole below me. I thought I was covered in glass, but it turned out to be wood. If you ever get a blowout, don't panic, get your foot off the gas, and slow down gradually to the side of the road.
I had a steel truck drop a piece of his load in front of me on a 2 lane road going into a curve. No way to avoid it and it took off my left front wheel at 55+ mph. Completely ripped off tire, rim, hub, brake and all and it wasn't that difficult to control the car even though it was the left front going into a right hand curve. Everyone including the cop kept saying they didn't understand how I kept it under control. It was simple, I didn't panic, I had both hands on the wheel and I didn't make any fast or hard manuevers. A cool head and common sense goes a long way.
So when was the last time you did it with a 4,000 lb. camper on your truck? How about with a 10,000 lb. trailer coming down a mountain road on a curve? There are LOTS of reasons for loosing control with a blowout.
2011 F-150 HD Ecoboost 3.5 V6. 2550 payload, 17,100 GCVWR - 2004 F-150 HD (Traded after 80,000 towing miles) 2007 Rockwood 8314SS 34' travel trailer
US Govt survey shows three out of four people make up 75% of the total population
skipnchar wrote: So when was the last time you did it with a 4,000 lb. camper on your truck? How about with a 10,000 lb. trailer coming down a mountain road on a curve? There are LOTS of reasons for loosing control with a blowout.
I had a front tire blow on a 30,000+lb vehicle that had about 4000lbs loaded directly above the front axle, about 11' off the ground! Said vehicle also did not have power steering. I was able to stop with no drama, damage was limited to tire, tube, and a mud flap.
John and Elizabeth (Liz), with 3 nutty cats
My beloved St. Bernard, Marm, lost him 1/2/12
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