What to Do If Your Tire Blows Out

Needless to say, tire blowouts ruin your car’s tires.

Steps to Follow

The interesting thing about tire blowouts is that they require you to act counterintuitively. While your instincts may tell you to slam on your brakes and veer off the road if your tire blows out, this is actually the exact opposite of what you should do.

Don’t Panic

You may be thinking, “Sure, that’s easy to say when you’re not in the situation,” and you’re right. But you’ll be doing yourself a huge favor by not shutting down and entering crisis mode when you have a tire blowout. So after your tire blows out, remain as calm as possible, and put the following procedure into place.

Keep Control of Your Vehicle

Again, though you may want to brake, you need to keep your foot on the gas pedal. Continue steering in the direction that you are heading, rather than veering immediately to get off the road. You may even need to accelerate a bit more to make up for the drag that is pulling your car. Contrary to what you might think, your wheels need to continue rolling for you to maintain control of the vehicle.

Correct Your Steering

Next you should gently correct your steering so that your car is brought back into position. Once you have your car back under control, you can begin to ease your foot off the gas pedal in order to slow down. Use only very slight braking.

Pull Off the Road

Once you have slowed back down, pull off to the side of the road. It’s best if you pull off with your blown tire facing away from traffic—this makes it safer to change your tire. However, if this isn’t possible, don’t worry: just pull over where it is safe to do so. And it goes without saying that you’ll need to be careful getting over when you have a tire that’s not working properly.

Only Turn on Your Hazards after Pulling Over

It’s important to warn other drivers that you are experiencing an emergency situation, but you’re actually better off if you wait until you’ve pulled off the road to turn on your hazard lights. You’ll be too busy responding to the situation anyway, and you don’t want to take your eyes off the road when your car is not under your control. Don’t make things even harder on yourself.

Change the Tire or Call for Help

You can change the tire yourself if you know how to and can do so safely. Otherwise, you can call a tow truck, or AAA for roadside assistance (if you are a member). If you need to wait for help, stand away from your vehicle, at a safe distance from the road.

Hopefully you never need to use these tips, but at least now you’re prepared in case you ever do!

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