RV Blows Tire Causing Roll-Over Video

Theory can always be interpret any way you want.
The punching gas pedal after tire blow is just one theory that we have no way to test, while fact that in the panic moment after blow NOBODY is going to remember that.
Still accelerating when you should slow down is not making much sense to me.
It is like Michelin in case of replacing 2 tires recommend to put them in the rear.
I drove in 4 seasons for several years and have actually experiences that such setup is plain danger, but we still have the theory.

Once again, the reason that the instructor in the Michelin Video does not explain the reason for stepping on the accelerator, is simply because the explanation consists of several parts, and would probably end up maxing out the attention span of most viewers. But, I'll keep trying to convince you that the laws of science apply in all phases of the instructional Michelin Video.
I'll start by saying that the Michelin Video is directed at those drivers who can keep their wits about them (do not panic), and can call on their intuitive and cognitive abilities which are honed by their driving experiences.
So, if you do NOT react immediately, and turn the steering wheel in the direction AWAY from the pull caused by the blown-out tire,.....well, you've got a lot of catching up to do.
Here's where it gets more involved. If you don't understand the design of the differential in the rear axle of your motorhome, and if you don't understand the effect of gravity on your motorhome and how gravity explains why there is a weight shift from the corner of a blown out tire TO two(2) other corners (RF & LR) WHICH BTW are supported by inflated tires,.........well, you just won't be able to understand all the reasons why you should step on the power pedal of the motorhome.
So, I'll say this: ONE reason you should step on the power pedal (at the same time you're steering away from the side of the blown tire) is because you also want ALL the possible help of the POWER STEERING feature of your motorhome. NOW, if you instinctively step on the brake, it disengages the cruise control, which slows down the engine-driven power steering pump. (stepping on the brake also has other unwanted consequences)
Back to the differential in the rear axle: The weight shift due to the blown-out tire (recall that it can NO LONGER support the same share of its previously assigned weight), this weight shift means that in this case more weight is now on the right-front tire and more weight is now on the left-rear DRIVE tires! BOTH, of which can help the situation, SPECIALLY if you step on the power pedal. Yes, the left-rear drive tires, at this point, will have more traction than the right-rear drive tires. There's three reasons for this: the design of the differential, the aforementioned weight shift, PLUS the weight shift due to the crown in the road. Obviously, more left rear thrust will certainly help in countering the dangerous pull towards the side of the blown tire. STEP ON THE GAS, it might save the day.

There's more to be said about all this, there always is.....:B

I had a blowout once and I didn't hit the accelerator so every video and every expert is crazy and don't know what they are talking about. :R

Just because one person got away with it once is no reason to disregard what the experts are telling you. You don't have to understand why it works but you do have to respect the fact that when several experts say this is the thing to do you have to wonder why YOU, an amateur, are questioning it.
Michelin didn't call anyone on this forum and ask them what to do. They contacted a real expert and then they showed you with a video?

Those that recommend procedures contrary to what the experts recommend are doing nothing but leaving drivers confused as to what to do when they actually have an incident like this. Do I do what the experts say or do I do what someone on an RV forum said that got away with it once? Opps, too late......while you were making up your mind what to do it is already too late.
The purpose of the experts telling you what to do is to imbed it in to your brain what is the correct way to handle a front wheel blow out.
Saying that only one person in 100 will remember it is nothing but BS meant to strengthen the position of a person that is adverse to taking advice from an expert.
Counter steering is almost instinctive so most people will do that, as evidenced by the very small amount of incidents that end up like this. Pushing on the accelerator keeps your foot off of the brake and helps to overcome the drag caused by the flat tire and provide more steering control when you need it the most. Once things are going straight, then you can slowly let off of the accelerator and pull off of the road.
Watch the video and listen to the experts and run it through your mind enough times that it becomes instinctive. People do it all of the time to condition themselves about how to act in an emergency situation that everyone hopes will never happen to them.

427435 wrote:
More of, what I consider nonsense, of accelerating if a blow out occurs. That may be technically a good idea. However, it is no substitute for proper steering action. And I doubt there is one person in a 100 that will both counter steer correctly and remember to hit the accelerator.

Gripping the steering wheel in a death grip and stepping on the accelerator, instead of steering, will accomplish nothing.

A lot of common sense right there. The crown certainly influenced the direction the vehicle wanted to go as well.
When I hear the floor the accelerator deal, I'm at a loss to explain. My combo doesn't start producing real power for a moment after you floor it. By that time this guy was in the middle of the two roads! And how long do you leave it floored? Does the tire get less flat after 5 seconds?
Things were stacked against this guy from the get-go. He was moving right along, which didn't help. He was towing a substantial truck which complicates it a little. He was in the left lane with the crown going left, and the left tire blew. I don't know what happened with the steering wheel and he probably doesn't either. It doesn't look like steering action was taken, but hard to say.

It took me a while to figure out what you guys where talking about.
Sorry, I was in a hurry to type my post above. I have no idea why I typed couldn't instead of could've. Kindly read it again, I believe you'll find that it makes sense now.

More of, what I consider nonsense, of accelerating if a blow out occurs. That may be technically a good idea. However, it is no substitute for proper steering action. And I doubt there is one person in a 100 that will both counter steer correctly and remember to hit the accelerator.

Gripping the steering wheel in a death grip and stepping on the accelerator, instead of steering, will accomplish nothing.

CD, our coach will run 80 mph all day long as it's a true passenger bus shell approved by DOT and has to pass many hurdles that regular coaches do not.

The recommendation by Michelin makes sense to me.

MM.

Mine will do the higher speeds, and I've driven it up there. It handles good, except that I much prefer to deal with a blown front tire at a lower speed. The lower cruising speeds of 65 to 67 mph makes more sense, specially in the context of this thread's subject matter.
Back to the accident scenario:
Immediately after the tire started losing air pressure (the blowout), the right front tire became the main tire which had steering authority. And, this tire was 10 to 11 ft from the edge of the pavement when the blowout occurred. This means that the driver had that much lateral distance in which he could've turned to the right in order to take advantage of THIS very important steering authority. ALSO, he apparently was not aware that if he had turned the steering wheel, PLUS stepped on the accelerator, he could've realized more forward thrust out of the left drive tires than the right drive tires. AND THIS would've additionally countered the adverse yaw to the left. In other words, just these two steps would've resulted in gaining directional control of the motorhome.
A bit of knowledge in the subject of automotive chassis dynamics is what you need in order to understand the reason for the resulting advantageous differential thrust between the left and the right drive tires. But, it's the reason that the instructor in the Michelin video wants you to step on the accelerator immediately upon experiencing a front tire blowout.
Yep, it's that easy to maintain directional control,.....two simple steps (which must be executed immediately).

BTW when I say that the right front tire is the steering tire that has steering authority, this means it has sufficient traction to respond to steering wheel inputs. Obviously, this means that in order to take advantage of its steering authority the driver will need to turn the steering wheel (in this case, to the right).

dubdub07 wrote:

Effy wrote:

dubdub07 wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:

mike brez wrote:

dubdub07 wrote:

bigred1cav wrote:
looks like speed was a major factor

Disagree.

It shure didn't help.
The truck was doing 66 mph when he got passed by the rv. I'm no expert but at the rate he passed the truck my guess he was traveling in the high 70s.

Simple to see. Would he have lost control at 20MPH? 30? 40? 50? 60?
Obviously excessive speed caused him to lose control. It is just unclear how much speed it took to exceed this drivers ability to cope with a flat tire. Front blow outs happen and very very few end up like this. This particular driver could not handle it even if he was going less than the posted speed limit.

I fail to see how 20-45 MPH can come into the fray on this one. Minimum speed is 45 MPH. We are probably not going to drive 45 MPH and since we choose to keep our speeds up (most in the MH forum regularly post their speeds as 60-75), logic has it that at speeds of 60-75 MHP the driver would still have lost control. The only thing that speed had a factor in was how far the wreckage continued to skid across the interstate.

Define "excessive". Is it a "going too fast for conditions" thing or a quantified measure of speed? 60, 70, 80 MPH??

WW

I can tell you this. There is a BIG difference in handling and comfort level in my RV between 60 and 70. BIG difference. I can't imagine 80. My RV won't even go 80. I think it was a contributing factor as to how it handled after a blowout. 10 MPH is a lot more than you think when trying to control a vehicle as large an RV.

I can tell you my MH really acts no different at 55, 65, or 75. There are times I have been 80 or above to pass a truck that was getting his momentum up for a hill and I didn't want to be behind him when we was slowed to 20. Several times I have looked down and seen as high as 85. Other than the gasp I let out from looking, there is no real difference.

Since his was a pusher as well, I assume he had the same experience as I because he was very confident in his passing of the 18-wheeler.

The video shows his coach listing dramatically to the left, an action he allowed and probably was caught off guard. Natural crown of the road is to the left in the left lane, so I am sure his coach just went that way; with the left blown tire, that was all she wrote.

Opinion only.

WW

Yea mine acts no different at 200 mph but when $hit happens it happens real quick not like when I'm going 20 mph.

Effy wrote:

dubdub07 wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:

mike brez wrote:

dubdub07 wrote:

bigred1cav wrote:
looks like speed was a major factor

Disagree.

It shure didn't help.
The truck was doing 66 mph when he got passed by the rv. I'm no expert but at the rate he passed the truck my guess he was traveling in the high 70s.

Simple to see. Would he have lost control at 20MPH? 30? 40? 50? 60?
Obviously excessive speed caused him to lose control. It is just unclear how much speed it took to exceed this drivers ability to cope with a flat tire. Front blow outs happen and very very few end up like this. This particular driver could not handle it even if he was going less than the posted speed limit.

I fail to see how 20-45 MPH can come into the fray on this one. Minimum speed is 45 MPH. We are probably not going to drive 45 MPH and since we choose to keep our speeds up (most in the MH forum regularly post their speeds as 60-75), logic has it that at speeds of 60-75 MHP the driver would still have lost control. The only thing that speed had a factor in was how far the wreckage continued to skid across the interstate.

Define "excessive". Is it a "going too fast for conditions" thing or a quantified measure of speed? 60, 70, 80 MPH??

WW

I can tell you this. There is a BIG difference in handling and comfort level in my RV between 60 and 70. BIG difference. I can't imagine 80. My RV won't even go 80. I think it was a contributing factor as to how it handled after a blowout. 10 MPH is a lot more than you think when trying to control a vehicle as large an RV.

I can tell you my MH really acts no different at 55, 65, or 75. There are times I have been 80 or above to pass a truck that was getting his momentum up for a hill and I didn't want to be behind him when we was slowed to 20. Several times I have looked down and seen as high as 85. Other than the gasp I let out from looking, there is no real difference.

Since his was a pusher as well, I assume he had the same experience as I because he was very confident in his passing of the 18-wheeler.

The video shows his coach listing dramatically to the left, an action he allowed and probably was caught off guard. Natural crown of the road is to the left in the left lane, so I am sure his coach just went that way; with the left blown tire, that was all she wrote.

Opinion only.

WW