University Of Tennessee Football Suffers Crushing Defeat In Arkansas

Football is serious business in the South, which is why the University of Tennessee football team suffering a crushing defeat in Arkansas is a huge deal. Only we’re not talking about the score of a game but instead the team’s semi-truck suffered a tire blowout at high speed, resulting in a smoking, sparking mess on the highway.

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A tire blowout isn’t a big deal on one of the duallies on the trailer goes. After all, there’s a reason they put the tires in pairs back there, preventing what would be a catastrophic situation if the only one at one of the corners suddenly gave up the ghost.

Instead, in this situation it appears the driver’s-side front tire blows out at speed just as the semi is coming to an overpass. The result is the rig steers right against the concrete barrier as the driver fights to keep it from veering to the left even more.

Shredded rubber getting ground against the pavement produces plenty of instantaneous smoke, likely to panic the casual observer. But if that doesn’t, the sparks shooting from the bare wheel rim grinding on the blacktop would freak out just about anyone in the moment.

Instead of losing his cool, the driver maintains as much control as possible while bringing the semi-truck to a stop in the lane. The hood flops open and yet the guy, who obviously has ice in his veins, applies the trailer brakes just like he was trained to do in just such a situation.

And this is why we give commercial trucks plenty of room on highways. The drivers can’t always account for blowouts and other emergencies which would keep them from maintaining full control of the 40,000 lbs. or so normally at their command.

Plus, we’ve seen tires come free and devastate a car. And drivers might not see a small vehicle traveling in their blind spot. It’s best to give semis a wide berth so everyone makes it home okay.

Image via Traffic Cam Watch/YouTube