Flat on the motorway

robj20

robj20

robj20

Soldato
Joined
9 Apr 2007
Posts
15,482
Well that was an experience.
Driving around the M60 and heard a loud noise, obviously ran over something.
Next minute pressure sensor warning comes on 40... 30... 15... 2.
Pull over the three lanes onto the hard shoulder as fast as I could all while slowing down. Luckily it was a wide section so pulled into the grass as much as I could as well.
Drivers side rear totally flat. Thank god my car has a space saver and not just useless sealant.
Even those couple of hundred metres looks like it's wrecked the side walls.
Remembered the tips of face the traffic as much as possible and keep an eye out but still a bit nerve wracking then all flying past at 70+.
Not something I want to do again in a hurry.
 
Did you brake instinctively (don't know whether I'd coast or brake) , or notify police of debris .

change - yes ? did nuts all came off without too much effort, or you diy so you knew they would ?
 
Fortunately so far I've not had a puncture where it hasn't taken a few minutes to go down - annoys me that most cars now come with just the useless gunk kit rather than a spare as well.
 
I would never even attempt to change a wheel on a motorway tbh. Breakdown services, flashing lights and all that entails would be my plan.
 
MrRockliffe said:
Glad you’re okay, and it’s a good job you had a space saver.

Did the change over to the tyre go okay?

Whats the wallet damage like on a new tyre?
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Yes, I always carry a dedicated breaker bar with a 19mm socket on so doing the nuts was easy. The included Jack wasn't too bad either, slow to use but nice and stable.

New Primacy 4 £192. I don't know if it's luck or what but it's booked in for two rear tyres on Friday as they're down to about 1.8mm.

jpaul said:
Did you brake instinctively (don't know whether I'd coast or brake) , or notify police of debris .

change - yes ? did nuts all came off without too much effort, or you diy so you knew they would ?
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No debris that I could see. Looks like a large hole though big screw maybe.
I'm plenty happy changing a wheel see above as well, was easy took maybe 10 minutes.

kona786 said:
Just out of interest... What was the brand and model of tyre. And age..
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Goodyear Eagle Asymmetric 3 from memory about 2 years old. 1.8mm tread.
 
Uther said:
I would never even attempt to change a wheel on a motorway tbh. Breakdown services, flashing lights and all that entails would be my plan.
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If it wasn't for the wide hard shoulder I don't think I would have done it myself.

See if this link works.
M60
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No barrier so pulled the car half way onto the grass. So I had plenty of space.
 
Uther said:
I would never even attempt to change a wheel on a motorway tbh. Breakdown services, flashing lights and all that entails would be my plan.
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Agreed. Either call your breakdown service or call 101 and ask if they can send an RPU or Highways unit out for some visibility.
 
If you do call your break-down service from a motorway, do they pool that urgent request amongst any breakdowm services in the vicinity, so, although you might be safer, you could get a bill ,
thought there was a recent thread where police made the call on a hard shouldered driver, albeit in a bad position but doing nothing.
 
I’d rather destroy a rim than stop on a hard shoulder (where they exist these days!)

I’ve seen a fair few horrible incidents over the years, the majority involve vehicles on the hard shoulder being struck by a vehicle…..
 
Scania said:
I’d rather destroy a rim than stop on a hard shoulder (where they exist these days!)

I’ve seen a fair few horrible incidents over the years, the majority involve vehicles on the hard shoulder being struck by a vehicle…..
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To balance that out I've seen a fair few people (more than I've seen on the hard shoulder) rear ended at roundabouts. Guess I shouldn't go near roundabouts then. Lol

To point out that the live lane next to me is actually the long slip road for junction 23, so was a fair bit slower and quieter than the main M60 lanes.
The fact I could move onto the grass so much I deemed the risk low.
 
jpaul said:
If you do call your break-down service from a motorway, do they pool that urgent request amongst any breakdowm services in the vicinity, so, although you might be safer, you could get a bill ,
thought there was a recent thread where police made the call on a hard shouldered driver, albeit in a bad position but doing nothing.
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The issue there was it never went though the breakdown company the police called their contractor directly to sort it therefore there was a bill to pay. If you use your own breakdown then who they choose is up to them but it will still be covered as part of your cover.
 
yes I know(inexperienced driver who was faffing around), but the generic issue is the vulnerability of people who need services on the motorway .
never called out a break down service - so if you called yours on an Mway do they say, might be several hours , do you want us to broker the call,
also do they usefully, notify police db, a call has been logged(so that they don't stop out of concern)
 
jpaul said:
yes I know(inexperienced driver who was faffing around), but the generic issue is the vulnerability of people who need services on the motorway .
never called out a break down service - so if you called yours on an Mway do they say, might be several hours , do you want us to broker the call,
also do they usefully, notify police db, a call has been logged(so that they don't stop out of concern)
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Generally breakdown services use a mix of their own vans/subcontractors anyway so you'd be logged as high priority and the job would go out to the pool to pick up. No different to if you were stuck at home with a dead battery (other than you'd be at the bottom of the pile in that instance), you may get an AA van you may get Dave from the garage down the road but either way there's no extra charges.
 
I would never dream of stopping on the hard shoulder to change a tyre, and like someone said earlier, I would and have, driven to the next exit and pulled off onto a none motorway road and a safe place, even if doing so scraps the rim. I actually got a Saab 900 from the Glosssop side of Stockport to Gatley on a rim that had eventually lost its tyre entirely, as it was snowing and visibility was bad. The (steel) rim was in pretty good shape still, I was surprised to discover.
 
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