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• Sound – the loud “bang” of a blowout is an easily recognized sign. Because it can take a few seconds for your vehicle to react, you might think it was some other vehicle. Any time you hear a tire blow, it’s safe to assume it was yours. • Vibration – if the vehicle thumps or vibrates heavily, it may be a sign that one of the tires has gone flat. With a rear tire, that may be the only sign you get. • Feel – if the steering starts to feel “heavy” it is probably a sign that one of the front tires have failed. Sometimes, failure of a rear tire will cause the vehicle to slide back and forth or “fishtail”. Any of these signs is a warning of possible tire failure. You should do the following things: • Hold the steering wheel firmly. If a front tire fails, it can twist the steering wheel out of your hand. The only way to prevent this is to always keep a firm grip on the steering wheel with both hands. • Stay off the brake. It’s natural to want to brake in an emergency. However, braking when a tire has failed could cause loss of control. Unless you’re about to run into something, stay off the brake until the vehicle has slowed down. Then brake very gently, pull off the road and stop. • Check the tires. After you’ve come to a stop, get out and check all the tires. Do this even if the vehicle seems to be handling all right. The only way you know it is by getting out and looking at it. Skid Control and Recovery A skid happens whenever the tires lose their grip on the road. This is caused in one of four ways: • Over-braking – Braking too hard and locking up the wheels • Over-steering – Turning the wheels more sharply than the vehicle can turn • Over-acceleration – Supplying too much power to the drive wheels, causing them to spin. • Driving too fast – Most serious skids result from driving too fast for road conditions. Drivers who adjust their driving to conditions don’t over-accelerate and don’t have to over-brake to over-steer from too much speed. Drive Wheel Skids – By far the most common skid is one in which the rear wheels lose traction through excessive braking or acceleration. Skids caused by acceleration usually happen on ice or snow. Taking your foot off the accelerator can easily stop. 28 | P a g e – E r i e C o u n t y G o i n g P l a c e s P o l i c y a n d P r o c e d u r e