On today’s drive home the BMW blew her right rear tire. I was going 75 (120 km/h) when I heard some “stones” flying against the wheel well during a lane change. For a moment I thought maybe I’m having a flat but after wiggling the steering wheel a bit I decided that it wasn’t so and pressed on – I wanted to get home after all. Six miles (!) later I heard a violent BANG and I immediately knew the tire blew. I pulled over into the left shoulder out of the fast lane (in the US we often have shoulders on the left, too). Then I remembered to not brake hard and I rolled out to a stop. Hazard lights on. Silence. —
Cars were still zooming by at 80mph. So I decided to stay in the car and call 911 (110) and AAA (ADAC) from my mobile. I could assess the damage later whe I was out of harms way. 5min later a very nice female Austin police officer pulled up from behind and protected me from the rush hour traffic that was zooming by. People are supposed to move out of the lane next to the police car and for most part they all did. 45min later the tow truck pulled up and loaded up the Diva while I was waiting inside the truck.
A heart felt thank you to the officer and AAA for making this episode nothing more than a lost 1.5hrs on the way back home.