Drive your Car on a Flat Tire is not an easy feat and something you shouldn’t actually do, but what if there is no other option left. You might be wondering how far can you drive with a flat tire but First things first, what could possibly lead you into a situation, where you will have to drive a car on a flat tire. Maybe, You are out on a night cruise with your friends to enjoy the quiet and peaceful nighttime, away from all the hustle and bustle of your daily lives? What could go wrong? Well, a flat tire is all you need to cut your little adventure short. Now comes the bigger problem, what to do? You might get lucky if you already have a spare tire in your trunk and a friend who knows how to work it. But what if you don’t have a spare tire and worse if you are alone? As it happens, most of the time we are left alone to fend for ourselves when facing an adversary, and in that case, we can only hope to make the best of the situations we are in.
Well, for today let’s focus on our problem at hand, A flat tire. Now, as I mentioned above a flat tire and that too away from any population, in a secluded place, is enough to send a person into a panic state and especially if it’s nighttime. What If I told you that you can actually make the most out of your Flat Tire too? Remember though, driving on a flat tire is can damage your tire rims and potentially a little bit of your car too. So, you should only drive on a flat tire if absolutely necessary.
Things you can do before deciding to drive on a flat tire.
Park your car a little sideways from the main path you were driving on, take out your toolbox and get that spare tire from your trunk, and well, you know what you have to do.
You don’t have a toolbox and a spare tire on you? Well, you can always use your Mobile and call for help from just anyone that you think can help you.
What’s that? Your phone is dead/doesn’t have any reception. In that case, you can always wait for someone to come, right? Someone is bound to come by and help you.
When Everything Else Fails.
So, you couldn’t do any of the above-mentioned steps or you simply were not able to. I guess now is the time where I tell you how to drive your car on a flat tire but remember as I mentioned above you should only drive your car on a flat tire if absolutely necessary.
1- Try and Drive Slowly: When you are driving a car on a flat tire, Speed is something that you should not be playing with. Remember driving a flat tire can and will damage your rims and might cause damage to your car as well if you are not careful with your speed.
Try to drive somewhere along 15-20 Miles (25-30 KM) per hour and try to not go overboard with speed as driving faster can also cause you to lose control of your car, becoming a potential threat to you or any other vehicle/person.
- At this point, your main goal should be moving out of the way of the oncoming traffic if you are on a road with high traffic.
- If you are going downhill, it is best to just let the car cruise down slowly while keeping a check on the brakes.
- Without the protection of an inflated tire, your rims might suffer from damages. So, keep that in mind while driving.
2. Go short distance : When driving a car with a flat tire, you should not go a very long distance, covering a short distance between you and your destination will do too. Remember you might also need to drive just to get out of harm’s way like oncoming traffic. So, it is OK to cover just a little distance.
- Your sole goal should be driving as short a distance as you can to find a safe spot for your car or a nearby garage.
3. Drive on Smooth Surface : You should keep a thorough lookout on the road you are driving on and focus on driving on smooth/flat ground. You can’t take the risk of hitting road bumps and definitely not the potholes. Plotholes, patchy roads, and other road obstacles can bend your Rims, making it impossible to drive and narrow turns are also a big concern as you can easily lose control of your car.
- Avoid all road obstacles at all costs.
- Try to avoid driving alongside corner railings on mountain roads.
4. Drive Straight : Try to drive in a straight line and don’t drive on steep and narrow curves. Also, don’t try to navigate through busy routes or roads with a lot of curves and turns. Instead, drive through the best direct route to the destination you have in mind.
- Do not put too much pressure on the steering wheel or you might compromise your steering ability.
- Avoid Sharp turns as much as possible.
5. Look for a safe place to Pull Over : If you found a safe spot that is visible to oncoming traffic and emergency services can easily spot then you should definitely pull over. Make sure to turn on your Hazard Lights by switching on the hazard lights button. The sole purpose of this Hazard light is to indicate to the oncoming traffic and onlookers that something is wrong with your car.
- Finding a spot like this should be your top priority instead of driving all the way to a garage or your home.
- Hazard lights and the safe spot you parked your car on will make your car easy to spot.
- You can wave down to oncoming cars and someone might come for your help.
Conclusion
So there it is, a guide of sorts to help you on how far you drive your car on a flat tire. Remember, this article was created with one flat tire in mind. If your car has more than one flat tire then you should not do any of these.
Don’t forget, You should not try to push your luck to see if you can travel to a far distance on a flat tire, instead, finding an easily spottable and safe spot should be your top priority instead of driving all the way to a garage or your home.
As mentioned many times above, you should only drive a car with a flat tire if there’s nothing else you can do. If you don’t know what you are doing then you should definitely wait for help. It might actually do you more harm to drive your car on a flat tire than to wait for help inside the safety of your car.
If you still decide to give it a try then follow the above-mentioned tips and you should be fine.
Hope this little article was somewhat helpful for you.
