Yesterday, a friend of mine and her husband met us at a restaurant in the valley for a Mother's day lunch. There were five of us: me, my husband, A, my friend, and her husband. The food was great! We banqueted on steamed crabs, raw and cooked oysters, clams, mussels, yummy duck, lechon, sushi, fish, barbeque pork, chinese dumplings, and many more. I could only eat so much. I didn't even eat rice. I was stuffed! My husband had his fill.
After lunch, we went on our separate ways. My friend went to Costco, while my daughter and I went shopping in the mall. My husband stayed in his usual favorite place..the bookstore. I purchased a cute blouse for myself and my daughter bought two cute summer blouses. Then we headed home.
We were maintaining a speed of 67 miles an hour on an uphill grade when we suddenly heard a big blow, immediately followed by the thumping and banging noises. We were within several miles from our town. My husband said, "hold on! hold on!" while he tensely tried to hold firmly on the steering wheel. I didn't know what was happening. The car was shaking so bad, accompanied by a pounding noise. I was scared! We never experienced something like this before. I looked back and saw a woman pull over to the side. I saw pieces of tires flying all over. I looked over to the other side of the road and saw a big drop off though there was a railing to protect us. Eventually, the vehicle started slowing down and my husband was able to begin to apply the brakes and quickly pulled over on the shoulder. My husband warned us to never slam the brakes when a blow out happens so we will not lose control of vehicle and cause it to swerve all over the road. Wait until you regain control of the vehicle, then you can start applying brakes. He also cautioned not to panic. Also, it is best to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front of you.
We got out and saw the tire totally ripped off. The wheel's well was broken, too. We were all shaken! We started unloading the back of our vehicle to search for the tools for changing tire. Since we bought this vehicle nine years ago, we have never used the jack, the tire arn, etc. It tooks us a while to figure out how to unhook the doughnut spare tire. My husband tried poking in every hole he could find with the tire arn and eventually found the right one and unravelled the spare tire.
First, we put rocks behind each wheel to stabilize our vehicle. Next, we loosened all the knots to the tire before raising the jack. Some people would apply the jack first before loosening the knots. Not a good idea because if you lift the jack up, the wheels will be hanging in the air, then when you try to loosen the knots, the wheel spins or the jack could shift off while loosening the knots and the vehicle could crash to the ground and might even hit somebody.
Suddenly, I saw another vehicle pulled over behind us. They were my friends. They passed us on the highway and was unable to stop so they looked for a safe place to turn around a few miles away and came to the rescue. It felt good seeing them. Earlier, I was hoping that they would see us and somehow they read my mind. He helped my husband finish installing the tire.
We drove slowly home while my friend kept a good distance behind us to make sure we were okay. We noticed that there were three other vehicles which also experienced a blow out right about in the same area. I wondered why. We stopped on one of the vehicles and offered help. A guy driving a motorcyle who also cared to stop thought that it might have been caused by the heat outside making the tire swell and blow out. It could also be that the tire was defective.
What a Mother's day experience! Hope you know what to do when faced with this situation.
Note: our four tires are only a year old.
17 comments:
Hi Ate Belle,
Thank God you all are alright. It's great that your husband had the presence of mind/defensive driving skills to safely stop the car. 67 mph and tires blow out, that is a dangerous situation specially if you panic. Thanks for the tip. I would have braked hard. One year old tires, maybe you should check if there are re-call for those.
You also may want to get a AAA membership, so you don't have to change tires yourselves. One tow or emergency call is well worth the membership.
Here in our area, we were planning to go the Eastern Shore last Thursday only to find out that there has been an accident on the Bay Bridge, 3 fatality and the bridge was closed. Motorists were stranded for hours.
Yes, it is really important to maintain a safe distance between cars. We still get tailgated even going 65 mph at a 55 mph.
you were supposed to take pictures of the rear end of the car, not the rear end of daddy.
@kk, now, we are planning to get an AAA membership especially for daughter A who will be driving on long distance this fall. i find it not easy changing tire, and it is best to leave it to the pro.
our highway speed limit is 65 miles an hour, and my husband always sets his cruise control 2 miles over. know what, we get overtaken a lot. had he been driving 75 or 80 miles per hour, i didn't think he would have been able to control the vehicle.
@tepsie, hahahahahaha...that was funny! daddy was laughing hard when i told him about what you said.
Hahaha@steph. Exactly. why Daddy's bum?
Buti na lang hindi gabi. Or else, makakapagmura ako nyan. That's why I said, in case I want to live in the States, I'll not survive there - eh di kaya ako marunong mag drive, I don't want to - it's safe to be in the backseat.
Lalo pa kung masiraan? Baka yung area na dinaanan nyo may "ghost"? Wala lang. hehehe.
nakow, katakot namang experience yan.. i hope na di ko maranasan ang ganyan, wala pa naman akong alam about cars except how to drive it :(
am very cautious of my driving distance & speed, too, lalo na dito sa lugar namin, maraming "taong-labas" [you know what i mean?] na laging involved sa lahat ng banggaang nangyayari araw-araw [am not exaggerating].
oh well...glad daddy knows best this time :)
@steph, that was so funny! :))
Hi Belle. I'm so glad that no one got hurt. It's a blessing. I could just imagine how scary it was. Glad that your friends helped your husband change the tire. I think it was kind of you to stop and lend a hand to someone else who also needed help. Take care!
That was a scary experience! I've never had any of my tires blow up while driving. Thanks for the tip, just in case it happens to me. Sana hindi!
Glad to know you guys were alright! Haha, natawa ako ron sa comment ni Steph. Was that intentional? (The pic, I mean.)
Katakot. Buti your husband has the presence of mind to stay calm & take charge of the situation.
Could it be you guys ate so much your tire was unable to take the load? Just kidding. I'm really glad none of you are hurt. And thanks for making a detailed post, it's a really good tip to keep in mind. I will tell hubby as he's the only driver in the family.
Belle, thank God you and your husband are safe! God is so good, He must have sent a multitude of angels to protect you at that moment. and your friends came at the exact time when you needed them to be there.
is it as hot there as it is in manila? it's really hot, but the rains come every once in a while.
belated happy mother's day dear Belle!
Hi Belle! Glad to hear everything turned out well and that no one got hurt.
We had the same thing happen to us in NLEX during our last vacation. Nakakatakot talaga. Good thing Hubby was the same like your husband, that he didn't panic and was able to go to the shoulder without further incident.
Well, God is surely watching over you that time Belle. And to have your friends there to help out? You are blessed, indeed.
The comment of Steph is so funny! :D
ahh scary...I've never seen a tire looking like that :)
Buti na lang magaling si Hubby Belle. Glad you're all okay :)
Cheers!
That must have been a terrifying experience. I'll let my husband read this, just in case it happens to us.
Steph's comment also made me laugh. :)
And all those food that you mentioned sound so yummy. :)
Such a relief you came up of it unscathed and wiser -- maybe just a little bit of a jolt ha. Your husband is very sensible and has presence of mind. You must feel safe having partner like that.
@K, i was so shaken that i don't feel comfortable driving on the highway for the time being. it would have been a disaster if it were me behind the steering wheel as panic would take over.
sana wala namang ghost kasi we go down the valley often.
@dangkin, same here. that is why i drive conservatively.
@rach, glad no one was hurt, too. my husband did a good job in keeping his cool under such threshold condition.
@kathy, i hope it will not happen to you, or any of us. it was such a scary experience that i don't want to ever experience again.
yes, Steffi was so funny. good one, Steff.
@auee, hahaha...i only had a plate full but my husband ate a little too much.
a friend of mine was telling me that he knew two people who died from a tire blow out. that is why it is really a must not to panic when in this situation.
@sexymom, God was definitely watching us that day. and it felt so good to see my friends stop and help us.
this time of year, it is nice and warm here, in the high 70's
@sheilamarie, so you know what it was like. glad it was not me driving as I would have panicked and slammed the brake.
@julie, yes, God was watching us that day. hehehe..steffi rarely makes that kind of comments.
@verns, he is a good driver that is why i let him drive 100% of the time especially in the fast lane.
@niceheart, the reason for this blog is to educate people on how to cope with this particular situation as many don't know what to do. hehehe, steffi, you made a lot of my friends laugh.
@anna, yes, i feel safe when he drives. though once in a while, when he gets sleepy, he lets me drive.
Hoorifying experience, indeed. Glad to know everyone escaped unscathed. Jeez.
Hi belle! I'm glad nothing bad happened. And thanks for sharing how your husband reacted. I never knew that, I hope I'd never ever need to apply the info but it will help greatly if ever something like this happens.
Take care!
PS- I read above about daughter L the graduate. You must be one proud momma! Way to go, belle. Congrats to you.
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