The basics of Tyre Burst / Blow Out
1. How To Handle A Tyre Burst:
a. What Not To Do:
DO NOT PANIC!!
Yes… no matter how many times you hear this about everything else in life, its true. If you panic, you tend to hurry and not think clearly and in that you may end up doing one of the following things that you are not supposed to do.
DO NOT SLAM THE BRAKES!!
Although it may seem like the wisest thing to do it is not. Why? Because one of your tyres is out of your control (it burst!) and when you apply brakes, it will do so to every tyre but only three will respond favourably. So, depending on the speed of the vehicle, it may end up skidding sideways or rolling around in circles like a ballerina till it hits something!!
DO NOT STEER IN ANY DIRECTION!!
Again, even though it is a reflex action that when a car gets out of control you tend to steer it immediately to the side, don’t do this because, as mentioned, one of your tyres is not responding and will only make matters worse.
Ok, yeah, I know it seems like I’m saying “just close your eyes and pray” but no, that’s not what I meant. Now comes:
b. What To Do:
Depending on how fast one’s reflexes are and how much one can remember at the particular time, here is the list, somewhat in order:
HOLD THE STEERING TIGHT!!
Hold the steering wheel tightly so that the vehicle doesn’t start banging into everything around it.
LEAVE THE ACCELERATOR… NOW!!
You have to get the machine to slow down. So that you can do something about it. Leave the accelerator so that the deceleration process begins.
TURN ON THE EMERGENCY / PARKING LIGHTS!!
It’s a wise thing to let the people behind know that something is wrong and they should also slow down a bit and definitely not try and overtake you.
GEAR BRAKE!!
Just because I said don’t slam the brakes doesn’t mean you don’t have to slow down! Gear brake (but not at once!! Don’t get it down from 5th to 1st!!). Slowly get it down.
SIGNAL AND GENTLY STEER ASIDE AFTER SPEED HAS DIED OUT!!
Had to steer eventually, but do it only after giving an indication of the same and after speed has died out considerably! AND do it gently! No sudden movements!
2. How Do You Know It’s a Tyre Burst?:
You may actually think it’s an earthquake but its not. The vehicle will vibrate. Steering it will become difficult. The steering will start tilting more to the side of the tyre burst. There will be a loud sound as if the vehicle hit something (in some small cases the air will flow out steadily and you wouldn’t even get to hear the sound). Naturally your vehicle is programmed to steer left when you take your hands off the steering, so don’t get confused, only when your steering wheel is tilting to any side even when you have your hands on the steering there is a grave problem. Either your axle is broken or you have a tyre burst situation.
3. Prevention:
Many people say that filling in too much air in the tyres will cause it to burst but the fact of the matter is that a person will purposely have to fill a crazy amount of air in the tyre to make it burst while driving. That being said, don’t fill in too much air. Mostly it is less air being filled into the tyre or old and peeling tyres that burst.
So, all being said and done, always maintain right air pressure, always use healthy tyres and always keep a spare tyre( it’s useless if you don’t have the jack and Tommy, so keep that too) … just in case!
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