Flying Tire on I-35 Not An Isolated Incident?

Horrified though we were that a woman was killed by a flying tire on I-35, we chalked it up to a random freak tragedy—the kind that gets coverage on the national news because of its wholly unbelievable nature.

This might not be the case.

Shortly after Monday's incident, a woman on internet activist site Actt Up posted about a strikingly similar accident that happened to her three weeks ago, also on I-35:

My name is Sarah Moak. I am commenting on the woman killed and those injured on IH 35 last night. I had the same EXACT thing happen to me about 3 weeks ago on 35, heading northbound, leaving me injured and my car totaled.

Nothing was done by APD to follow up and I just recently located my truck at a junk yard last week. I posed the question to the police after my incident regarding follow up..."What happens when this happens again and someone gets killed?"

Nobody stopped for my accident either. Nobody could tell me anything EVER except that it was under investigation....now it has happened again. And this is not exactly an occurrence you hear of every day.

Austin Police have yet to release additional details about the case. Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 512-974-4724.

Photo from ActtUp post

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Allen Y Chen in News on July 19, 2007 12:23 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

smoak24

I am Sarah Moak, the one who this happened to. Sadly, I was following a generous distance from this vehicle, and this still happened to me....Nobody can stop a speeding bullet. I brought this all to the attention of the police who told me, and have told me until RECENTLY, that it was being 'investiigated'. There are places to change tires etc very close, to where my and the others whom were harmed, to where we were all driving on I-35. This entire incident strikes me as totally preventable. I bet money that it won't happen again for awhile b/c of the fact that it has had such publicity....quite a shame it did not happen when my accident occured. The only headlines that I got b/c I am not dead (just really banged up and I sustaied permanet nerve damage and vision damage)....

Ryan

I agree with mdahmus, especially the part on central Austin burglaries. OT, but has this been reported in the press at all? If it weren't for my neighborhood listserve I would be clueless about it. Back to the case at hand - what does Moak expect the police to do? How do you find a truck with a missing tire when you have no witnesses? Somehow I feel that this is a case of rising gas prices = more truck drivers/companies keeping old tires on until they blow up. Who knows though, maybe some weirdo is throwing tires out of their van at high speeds.

Scooby

It's not failsafe & foolproof, but adequate following distance, keeping the space to the sides of the car clear, and minimizing distractions while driving go a long way toward preventing a tire scrap from ruining your whole day.

If you clock enough highway time on an interstate, you are eventually gonna see an 18-wheeler either blow its own tire or run over & launch a shredded tire tread. Just a couple of weeks ago, I saw a blowout on the same stretch of NB I-35 as the recent fatality. The biggest chunk of tread was narrowly avoided by a guy in a little roadster (that would have been toast if hit squarely). I didn't see any immediate collisions, but can't speak to the fate of all of those chunks of rubber spewed over the road.

Scooby

It's not failsafe & foolproof, but adequate following distance, keeping the space to the sides of the car clear, and minimizing distractions while driving go a long way toward preventing a tire scrap from ruining your whole day.

If you clock enough highway time on an interstate, you are eventually gonna see an 18-wheeler either blow its own tire or run over & launch a shredded tire tread. Just a couple of weeks ago, I saw a blowout on the same stretch of NB I-35 as the recent fatality. The biggest chunk of tread was narrowly avoided by a guy in a little roadster (that would have been toast if hit squarely). I didn't see any immediate collisions, but can't speak to the fate of all of those chunks of rubber spewed over the road.

heyzeus

Unfortunately, this scenario is not extremely uncommon. More and more 18 Wheelers on the roads, driving more hours on congested highways. Routine maintenance costs money and time, which is the same thing as money, and thus is avoided when possible.

A massive 18 wheeler tire flying off at 60+ mph is like a wrecking ball, and it happens frequently. But by the time the destruction is gone, that truck is long gone too.

mdahmus

should read "like most of us would if given the choice".

mdahmus

Here's the thing: sitting in your car writing speeding tickets is easy. Stopping actual crime (before or after the fact) is hard. Like getting a handle on the rash of burglaries in central Austin. Or enforcing traffic laws other than speeding and seatbelt use.

Our municipal leadership long ago decided not to actually, you know, tell the cops what they ought to be doing, so it's no surprise that, like most of us, they choose easier and less risky crimes to work on.

guest

!!!ZOMG THE WTC WAS BROUGHT DOWN BY EXPLOSIVES, AND NOW THE GOVERNMENT IS THROWING TIRES ON PEOPLE!!!

guest

I had a car once upon a time and I was driving to work one day on McNeil when someone in an SUV entered 183 on the ramp that comes up before Burnett. I was in the outermost lane when I saw sparks coming off of the SUV. Turns out their front left tire flew off their axel and was bouncing across 183. Not that I noticed at first, watching the fireworks coming off of that truck. The SUV thankfully had fortunate timing because the tire bounced across the road after the cars that had passed and before anyone hit it so that everyone could slow down.