18 Feb 2008 04:33:25 | Fred Ost
Many a night during my years of driving a tow truck I pulled up
to a vehicle sitting in the lane on a highway with a flat tire
while cars braked and skidded behind it to avoid hitting this
obstacle, and what do you think I heard as the excuse for
sitting there in the lane risking life and limb? "I did not want
to ruin my tire, or wheel." Let me be the first to tell you, if
you don't think your life, or the life of other motorists on the
road is worth more than the tire or wheel on your car, you
should be on a psychiatrists couch not behind the wheel. I do
not care if you have stock wheels or a phat set of spinners,
your life is worth enough to damage those wheels or tires to get
yourself to a point of safety and out of the way of traffic. At
which point you can wait for assistance or take the time to make
repairs on your own.
The only time I was ever more angry than the above situation is
when I pulled up at a similar scene only to find a police car
sitting behind that same car with the flat tire, blocking
traffic and causing a potential safety hazard. As far as I'm
concerned that is two people who do not know the value of
safety. The most important thing to remember in a time like that
you want yourself and the motorists around you to make it home
at the end of the day. The wheels and tires can always be
replaced.
When you get a flat tire, no matter what type of vehicle you are
driving the most important thing to remember is to turn on your
hazard lights, gradually take your foot off the gas allowing the
vehicle to gradually decelerate, and get off the roadway, out of
the lanes of travel as quickly and safely as possible. When you
do this you not only get yourself to a point of safety where you
can calmly survey the situation and choose the best course of
action, you also make the roadway safer for everyone else.
No matter what your financial situation may be, getting killed
because you did not want to ruin a wheel or tire is not going to
pay any of your bills or save you any money. Everything material
in life can be replaced, your life, or the life of the person
who slammed into your car because they were going too fast and
did not have time to stop, can not.
Take the time to get to safety and you have done something good
for yourself and for all the other motorists on the road.
About Author :
Fred Ost is a writer, web designer and aspiring indie movie
maker. He is a founder of, and staff writer at the free
independent artits community at http://www.scptv.net.
He also offers personal safety products through http://www.pepperspraybargains.com.
