The Most Unexpected Ways Your Car Can Fail You

The modern car is a safe mode of transportation when driven safely, but it is still a machine, and all machines can fail. Cars are routinely involved in the accidental deaths of roughly thirty thousand people every year. While car engineers have made great strides in making cars safer than they have ever been, there are still some ways a car can fail that can hurt or even kill the driver, passengers, or those around them. With that in mind, here is a breakdown of the nine most dangerous car failures.

Tire Blowout

A tire puncture can happen at almost any time. It can happen on the road if a car runs over something sharp, while the vehicle is stationary if someone slices a tire or hits them, or if the tires are overinflated on a sunny day. The real danger is a blowout, which is often caused by dry-rot on the sidewalls, a sudden puncture, or impact damage to the tire while driving. A complete tire blowout will take an average car and turn it into a three-wheeled vehicle, probably with a whole quarter of the car dragging on the concrete. With blowouts, the sudden shift in direction, as well as the loss of control, can cause potentially severe accidents at high speeds.