Puncture on Motorway ?

Silvera

Ok, you are driving along a Motorway and get a puncture on the drivers side rear wheel. You pull over onto the hard shoulder and switch on your hazard warning lights and place a warning triangle approx two-car-lenghts behind your car.

What next ?

Do you ..........

A. Change the puncture ?
B. Call the AA ?
C. Call the Gardai (via your mobile or a emergency roadside phone) ?
D. Use your can of 'Tyre Weld' to inflate the wheel ?
C. .......Other option ?

Green_Martian

Well i think i might call the AA..........im not gonna risk getting hit by a car when changing my wheel.
I would probably do as they all advise and sit in the passenger sit until the help comes...............

lomb

Gkelly2002 wrote:

Well i think i might call the AA..........im not gonna risk getting hit by a car when changing my wheel.
I would probably do as they all advise and sit in the passenger sit until the help comes...............

the uk rules of the road say to exit the car face traffic and call the breakdown services from the motorway phones

however i personally would keep driving until i could pull in sufficiently and then id change it.

BrianD3

If it's a decent hard shoulder and I can pull in far enough to put several feet between me and the traffic then yeah I would change it. Sometimes it's possible to drive onto stones/grass verge to the left of the HS which is even better obviously.

I'd be more wary of changing a wheel on an Irish national primary road actually. Speed limit is only ~10 mph less plus there's danger from vehicles driving in the HS to let following traffic by or swerving into the HS to avoid oncoming cars whcih have misjudged overtaking manerouvres.

BrianD3

bazz26

I would try and drive until I found a truck stop or layby and change the tyre there. If I couldn't make it to there then I would pull into the hard shoulder, put on the parking and hazard lights and place the warning triangle at the appropriate distance from the car, ring the AA or RAC and wait for them by the side of the road next to the car (don't wait in the car itself incase a car/truck for some reason could plough into the rear of you). Plenty of emergency phones along the motorways these days too.

fletch

Not a chance I would attempt to change the wheel & I would get out of the car & walk as far up the embankment beside the motorway as possible....See way to many people using the hard shoulder every day as if it were a 3rd lane

unkel

fletch wrote:

Not a chance I would attempt to change the wheel & I would get out of the car & walk as far up the embankment beside the motorway as possible....

Same here

stratos

I attend to installations on the side of motorways/ dual carriageways, the hard shoulder is a terrifying experience. I would never sit in a vehicle on the hard shoulder. I would change a tyre if i had a lookout some feet towards traffic. It amazes me people do not slow down if they see work men. I do, though I guess, cause I know what it's like. Most people have never stood on a hard shoulder off peak, it's terrifying. People if you see works vehicles on the side of the road , please spare a thought, slow down. I also work on minor roads, near the verge, people blow by me within inches. Is my life that cheap and that of my families that they can see me and not back off a bit ?

Seth Brundle

Further to all the advice here, I think the recommended advice if you are totally stuck is to:
* park the car safely on the side of the hard shoulder (as far from the driving lanes as possible) with your front wheels towards the grass verge,
* turn on your hazard lights along with sidelights in the dark or when visibility is poor, but do NOT display a red triangle or other warning device - with fast moving traffic, the risks outweigh the benefits.
*get out of the car (preferably via the passenger doors)
*climb the embankment and keep your car between you and oncoming traffic. however, keep a far enough distance between you and your car as when hit at 70mph your car is likely to move!
Also if you have ever seen those police video programs, there is one clip always played where a cop is giving a ticket and an oncoming vehicle totals his (IMO) safely parked car - imagine you were on your hunkers there changing a wheel...

Alun

kbannon wrote:

* turn on your hazard lights along with sidelights in the dark or when visibility is poor, but do NOT display a red triangle or other warning device - with fast moving traffic, the risks outweigh the benefits.

Care to explain that one?

Seth Brundle

Alun wrote:

Care to explain that one?

You walk down the hard shoulder of the motorway and get creamed! On a motorway, the triangle shouldn't really be necessary if you have your sidelights & hazards on! Therefore, the risk is not worth it!

fletch

I turn on my hazard lights if I see a car in the hard shoulder while I'm driving in the left most lane of the motorway. Just alerts people behind you of a hazard if your car is obscuring their vision of the road ahead.
Would people agree this is a good idea or not? Just wondering 'cause I never see anyone else doing it

Alun

kbannon wrote:

You walk down the hard shoulder of the motorway and get creamed! On a motorway, the triangle shouldn't really be necessary if you have your sidelights & hazards on! Therefore, the risk is not worth it!

OK, you didn't make it clear that you thought it was the physical act of placing the warning triangle on the road that was hazardous, rather than it just being there Anyway, if there's a bit of a grass verge, you could always walk along that, sneak out and quickly place it on the hard shoulder.

Alun

fletch wrote:

I turn on my hazard lights if I see a car in the hard shoulder while I'm driving in the left most lane of the motorway. Just alerts people behind you of a hazard if your car is obscuring their vision of the road ahead.
Would people agree this is a good idea or not? Just wondering 'cause I never see anyone else doing it

Not sure on that one, but on balance I wouldn't say it was such a good idea. It could cause a chain reaction whereby everyone suddenly either puts theirs on too and /or slams on the anchors, for no real reason.

On the other hand, I do put mine on temporarily if I'm travelling along a motorway or DC at speed and come across a solid wall of stationary traffic.

fletch

Alun wrote:

On the other hand, I do put mine on temporarily if I'm travelling along a motorway or DC at speed and come across a solid wall of stationary traffic.

Yes I always do that.....after doing the Hiberninan Ignition course & seeing a video of a truck pile-driving a stationary build up of traffic, I turn on my hazards and slightly point my car towards the hard shoulder ready to dive outta the way if I see some vehicle coming behind that I know ain't gonna be able to stop in time

fletch

Alun wrote:

Not sure on that one, but on balance I wouldn't say it was such a good idea. It could cause a chain reaction whereby everyone suddenly either puts theirs on too and /or slams on the anchors, for no real reason.

I never thought about that side-effect.....I only tend to slightly let off the accelerator, not actually touch the brake pedal

mcguiver

In some countries the law says that if you are broken down you must open your bonnet to make your vehicle more visible from the distance. I always carry a high vis jacket, so if the need arises I stick that on.

Silvera

good idea about opening the bonnet !

(........must get a hi viz jacket)