Surviving a Motorway Tyre Blowout
A car tyre that blows out on a motorway can be extremely frightening. The key is to stay calm and stay in control. This is a somewhat rare event now with UK tyres as the technology and quality is improving all the time. However the most common cause of tyre blow outs is under inflated tyres. This is especially a problem on van tyres where the van is heavily loaded. Under inflated tyres bulge under the weight of the vehicle. As the vehicle is driven down a motorway or dual carriageway at speed this causes the tyre to bounce up and down. The movement in the tyre wall generates friction which turns into heat. The heat of the tyre can cause it to burst, or in extreme cases burst into flames.
If a front tyre blows out it is very important to hold the steering wheel tightly and keep the car stable. It will start to pull severely to the side with the blown tyre and taking your hands off the wheel will obviously cause you to either hit the central reservation or other traffic. Do not brake hard, if you need to brake then try to do so gently. Braking too hard can exaggerate the already severe pulling to the left or right. This could cause you to hit a vehicle beside you. You must where possible try to let the car lose speed on its own and get across to the hard shoulder as soon as you can. The same rules apply to a rear tyre blow out with one main difference; braking. Braking will shift the weight of the car onto the front tyres. This can give control back to the driver but again it is essential that the driver brakes lightly and maintains a strong grip on the wheel. If the vehicle is sliding around too much under braking change down a gear to reduce speed.