What To Do In Case of a Tire Blowout

A few days ago, one of my favorite bloggers, Gypsy, had a tire blowout on her fifth-wheel as she was driving along the highway. Fortunately, she did a great job by managing to pullover to the side of the road without suffering any damage other than to the tire itself and maybe a few shattered nerves! Good driving Gypsy, we’re all glad you’re safe and sound. This got me thinking a bit about blowouts and what I would, and should, do in case we happen to have one.

This motorhome suffered serious damage resulting from a tire blowout

What would you do if you were driving along the Interstate, in your motorhome or pulling a fifth-wheel, and suddenly you heard a “wham” as one of your tires had a blowout? The instinctive reaction for me, I’m guessing, would be to hit the brakes hard and try to come to a stop.

Note: This is a 10 minute video, so those on 5GB caps may not want to view this. Here is the link to save for viewing on cable/dsl or free wifi at a later time: Michelin Tire - What To Do In Case of a Blowout

According to Michelin Tire, and most other experts, hitting the brakes is exactly the wrong thing to do - 100% wrong! In fact, in case of a tire blowout, the opposite is true - we should stomp on the gas pedal to maintain the forward motion of our vehicle, and then, use the steering wheel to adjust and maintain control while looking for a safe place to stop. The whole blowout scenario is discussed fully, and explained, in Michelin’s video. This is really a “must see” for all RV’ers – it could save you a lot of grief, maybe even your life!

Tires can literally explode causing a tire to disintegrate

Tire blowouts can, and do, happen without warning no matter what kind of safety precautions we have in place. Although I never dwell on it, blowouts are always in the back of my mind when I’m driving. I do the obvious things like making sure my tires are always in good condition and properly inflated. I’m really glad I bought new tires for our 5’er last week. Another precaution I take is to avoid excessive speed even when a long, straight freeway is beckoning – 60mph is fast enough to get me where I want to go these days.

There are a couple of blogs from yesterday that I think deserve a mention. The first is Jerry and Suzy’s – I won’t say why as “a picture is worth a thousand words” and you’ll see for yourself when you visit (Warning: this site is for mature audiences only).

The other blog is fellow Canadian JB’s Down the Road From Dogpound. JB talks about the successful kidney surgery performed on his baby granddaughter, Ms. Ella, at the Stollery Childrens Hospital in Edmonton, AB. As JB says in his blog, regarding Canada’s universal health care system, “in the case of Ms. Ella’s recent visit to the hospital, that line-up that everyone talks about was about 20 hours from diagnosis to operation, and that probably can’t be beat anywhere in the world.”

Have a great Monday, and thanks again for visiting!