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 your steering wheel tightly and slow to a stop.
Why this is the answer
The Texas handbook's section on a flat tire or blowout lists three steps: don't brake suddenly or hard, take your foot off the gas and apply the brakes gently, and steer straight ahead until you stop. Gripping the wheel firmly and easing down to a stop matches that guidance. The handbook warns against hard, sudden braking, so the calm, controlled response is the one it teaches.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Slam on your brakes. — The handbook specifically says not to hit the brakes suddenly and hard, which is exactly what slamming on them does.
- C. Keep driving normally. — Carrying on as if nothing happened ignores the handbook's steps to ease off the gas, brake gently and steer straight to a stop.
- D. Turn on your emergency flashers and continue driving. — The handbook does not tell you to keep driving with a blown tire; it says to bring the car to a stop.
Remember it
Blowout drill: firm grip, foot off the gas, gentle brakes, straight line to a stop.