Re: No AAA member, what if I get a flat tire?

>Along these lines, why do people just leave their disabled car in
>traffic with the blinkers going?  You may not be able to push a Caddie
>uphill, but a normal person ought to be able to push an ordinary car
>over to the side without doing him/herself an injury.  I've done it and
>still could if I had to.  

I could easily push a car several blocks if it died on a level
residential street, and I've done it before.  Ok, it was slowly,
and with some rest stops, but it was made slower by trying to keep
out of traffic lanes while pushing.  A ripped-to-shreds tire would
make it harder to push, but I could probably still do it.  However,
I'd be hesitant to try to push even a single tire out of traffic
lanes on a 60+MPH freeway in rush hour, especially if it's around a
nearly-blind curve.  I'd likely get hit (and killed) before even
getting into position to push the car.  It's not hurting myself
pushing the car that's the issue.

On the couple of times in 30 years when I've had a tire blow out,
and the one time I was stupid and thought I could make it to the
next gas station but couldn't, and the time the engine just lost
power and quit on me, all on the freeway, I managed to get to the
side of the road and out of traffic with the momentum I had left,
without hitting anything or even coming close to hitting or being
hit.  All of these happened in at least moderate traffic.

The one situation which I almost got stuck in the actual middle of
the freeway was a HUGE backup (I later found out there were helicopters
landing to take injured to the hospital, and the whole freeway was
shut down for many hours, and I arrived near the end of it), where
after several hours I came close to running out of gas.

                                        Gordon L. Burditt