What To Do When Your Car Gets a Blowout
Last week we covered why tire blowouts happen. Today: What to do when it happens to you. A blown-out tire doesn't have to become a disaster. Just keep calm and carry on.

By Mac Demere

August 26, 2013 2:55 PM

Safely handling a tire blowout at highway speed is sort of like going to class as a star athlete at a college-football powerhouse: Do nothing more than sit quietly and you'll probably get a B. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is nothing.

While working for a major tire company, I taught about 1500 drivers how to successfully handle a tire blowout. We affixed plastic explosive to the tire sidewall, which not only blew out the tire but also realistically simulated the petrifying noise of a burst tire. The lesson happened at 60 to 65 mph, with simulated blowouts on the front and rear tires of cars, pickups, minivans, and sport-utility vehicles. I rode in the right seat and pushed a big red button to cause the explosion.

No one lost control. In fact, we were so certain the students would always get a successful result that we didn't permit them to wear helmets, much less did we install roll cages or attach outriggers. My best advice from the passenger's seat: Just keep calm and drive straight down your lane.

To get a B in my class, driving students had to stay away from the brake pedal and allow the drag of the failed tire to slow the vehicle to 30 mph—or slower, ideally—before they even considered turning the steering wheel. But it's easier said than done, especially in the real world where there's no driver instructor to remind you not to panic. Driving straight and not pounding the brake is contrary to almost every driver's natural reaction—to brake hard and head immediately for the false safety of the shoulder.

For a student to get an A, he or she had to do something even more counterintuitive: Press the gas pedal for an instant. The goal is to hit the accelerator just long enough to stabilize the vehicle. Other benefits of pressing the gas for short instant: It prevents the driver from pushing the brake or turning the steering wheel. If the only thing this accomplishes is to lock up the driver's brain while they remember what to do, then I've succeeded as an instructor. By the time the driver remembers what I said, the vehicle will have slowed to a safe speed.

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