Your tire blows out while you are driving. You should:
- Slam on your brakes.
- Hold your steering wheel tightly and slow to a stop. ✓
- Keep driving normally.
- Turn on your emergency flashers and continue driving.
Answer: B. Hold your steering wheel tightly and slow to a stop.
Hold the steering wheel tightly and slow to a stop.
Why this is the answer
The New York manual's blowout section says to hold the steering wheel tightly and slowly take your foot off the gas pedal. It adds that you should not use the brake until the vehicle is controlled, and that you should leave the road only when it is safe. So the right response is to keep a firm grip and let the car slow down, rather than braking hard or trying to drive on as if nothing happened.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Slam on your brakes. — The manual says not to use the brake until the vehicle is controlled, so slamming on the brakes during a blowout is the wrong action.
- C. Keep driving normally. — A blowout is an emergency, and the manual says to slow down and leave the road when it is safe, not to continue as usual.
- D. Turn on your emergency flashers and continue driving. — The manual does not tell you to keep driving after a blowout; it says to slow the vehicle and leave the road when it is safe.
Remember it
Think of a blowout as a grip-and-coast problem, not a brake-and-panic problem.