I had been driving for more than 40 years when we moved to Canada in 1994. In all my years driving in the states I had never heard of tires flying off trucks. I found that in Canada this phenomenon occured at least once annually, but, when we returned home, I was convinced it would not happen here.
Well, I was wrong. Today driving on the Massachusetts Turnpike, I saw a Greyhound bus traveling a little ahead of me; flames were coming from underneath it due to the metal wheel scraping the ground as the tire was traveling across and up the road. The tire must have traveled a quarter to a half mile before hitting the guard rail and crossing the road once more to finally land in the shoulder.
Fortunately, the driver was able to bring the bus to a halt by the side of the road. It's doubtful that anyone was severely hurt. But, it certainly caused me and other drivers to really slow down as we followed the tire.
Greyhound is facing some major competition on the Boston - New York run. I wonder whether they've skimped on maintenance as one way to cut costs to meet the competition.
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