79inSD

So I was driving to work this morning. Was doing about 70 and my left rear tire came apart. The cars rearend came out a little bit but the car was shaking more than anything. I pulled over as fast as I could, to stop and see what kind of damage was done. Luckely I was in the slow lain still, if I would have been in the fast lane I think alost more damage whould have been done. Well the tire did not blow, but the tread had come off of it, along with alot of paint. Man was I pissed. I had a spare but no tools to change it. I had missed the exit buy about 20ft. Next exit was about 2 mile up. This was befor
6am so traffic was not bad, So I start to back up, and cop pull up and asks me what I am doing So I tell him, and he tells me to drive to the next exit. Which is a merge to another freeway, and would put me in worse shape. To finish out the story I drove the car to the closest tire shop which took a while since I could only do like 2 mile per hour. I am still pretty sick over the paint damage, I guess it could have been worse. At least the fiberglass did not get shattered or cracked.

Jeff

murvette

man that sucks bad. What brand of tire? or was it old. are you shure the car was shaking not you just trying to make you feel better . at least the tire did not fly off ,very common on c-3 not torqued or after market with adapters.

onaqwst

i would call the police head quarters and report that cop.... he shouldn't have told u to drive to the next exit in that situation....... that's not cool at all....... what if your tire blew and caused an accident?


b

TonySinclair

You're not allowed to back up on the freeway and you're not allowed to operate a car that is unsafe on the freeway. Cop could've ordered him to tow the car...which is what he should've done.

I see people here all the time driving 25mph (or less) ON the freeway with obvious car problems. They think if they've got their emergency flasher's on, it's OK...like that creates some kind of "safety shield" around the vehicle.

If your car is disabled, park it & tow it.

SIXFOOTER

Tony, I agree, cary thing to run up on a bozo bluehair that missed an exit and decides to back up on I95 to get off instead of going to the next exit

79inSD

Well here is the deal. I was right by 2 freeways for the San Diego people I was on the 8W, next exit was the 15N merge. So was either backwards or try to cross 3 or 4 lanes of 65mph traffic to get to the next exit. I did not have a cell phone, so I was not about to run across the freeway. I was also next to a divider, and when I opened my door it was pretty much in the freeway. Humm lets see back up 20 ft or go a mile or two, In my opinion it was safer to back up.

SIXFOOTER

79, I ain't ayin I wouldn't try iy in that case (only 20 feet) you were in a pretty bad spot to break. We see it all the time down here in S Fla, morons miss it my 300yds and try to back up on the shoulder. Usually you can tell by the traffic hellicopters that another one Bit the dust
Did the wheel survive?

mdj21

what happened to your jack and lug nut wrench in the compartment behind the passengers seat? that should be all the tools you need.

ruby76

not to rub it in your eyes, but this is exactly why I keep my spare tire carrier on and keep the tire iron in the car. I (and it looks like you do to) actually drive my car - a spare tire (and a tiretool) could be priceless in a pinch.

Hopefully the paint damage isn't going to be a big deal to repair. Im surprised also that the officer did not call a tow truck for you. Around saint louis there are "motorist assist vehicles" that will come and help you change your tire, tow you to an exit, give you an 'extra' gallon of gas etc. Cops will call them if they spot you first. I bet there hasn't been a day go by in 6 years of working in STL that I haven't passed one of those assist vehicles on my way to work or on the way home.

NHvette

Another reason that I'm glad I switched to runflats.
No tire carrier, jack, or iron .... and I can still get home on the highway
after running over a box of nails.

Good luck with the paint repairs ... lucky the 'glass is still intact.

TonySinclair

I know exactly where you are talking 'bout...I lived in San Diego for 20 years before moving here. I also know every mile (or 1/2 mi.) of San Diego freeway has callboxes.

I'm not trying to jack you up...just rebutting Onaqwest's "blame the cops or "blame someone else" attitude. It is illegal (and dangerous) to back up on the freeway. Cop was just doing his job, trying to save your life and that of everyone else on the freeway. If it were me, I would've called you a tow and ordered you not to move the car.

79inSD

It did, I will take some pics of the paint damage. But the whole rear fender would have to be painted. The shop it is at should get the tires in tommorow. I ordered the highest rating that they had. I do not know how old the tires were, they came with the car.

79inSD

Well I had just cleaned the inside, including the compartments and I had left the lug nut wrench out.:o . Just my luck since I had read the spare tire thread, and thought to myself I am keeping mine.

79inSD

I thought he was going to wait but he just jumped back on his bike and left. I did wait for about 20 min or so. I did not even like sitting there, all it would take is for someone to go off the road a little bit. So when I saw a gap in the traffic I did it.



I am not sure if there was a call box nearby, I did not even think of that. If I had a phone, or he called I would have waited. Just one of those situations that I did not plan for, and should have. My other car has a whole road side emergency kit in it. Guess I will get another one.

JungleCat

Sorry to hear about your trouble. Good luck on the repair.

bryan27

my motorcycle has a FTP sticker on it for a reason.

rihwoods

I know where you are talking about...not fun sitting there...maybe your insurance will cover damage...good to hear you got outa there without getting nailed...
Rich