I was unlucky last night because I either hit something on I65 that destroyed my tire or I had a blowout. While driving southbound on I65, I heard a loud bang. I didn't see any debris on the road that would have caused this. I immediately pulled over to the side of the road. There was a policeman in the median right where I pulled off, apparently trying to catch speeders driving northbound. I thought that he might volunteer assistance, but I'm not sure that he even noticed me. I was going to call my Geico Roadside Assistance anyway.
I got out of the car and looked at my tires, and none appeared flat. So I thought that maybe the car is still drivable and that I could make it to the Edinburg exit three miles down the road, but after driving another half mile it was obvious that something was wrong with the car.
However, I had a problem with my Geico Roadside Assistance. After calling people for 25 minutes and keeping me on hold, they couldn't find anyone on their network to help me. So they told me to call 911. I called 911, which gave me a number of a wrecker service in Edinburgh, but they couldn't help. They gave me a number of a wrecker service in Columbus who also couldn't help, so the Columbus service gave me the number of Graham Wrecker Service in Franklin which came and helped me by changing the tire. I got home safe after a 90-minute delay.
Fortunately, I have a road hazard warranty on all my tires. The last time I had to wait days for the replacement tire, but I have an appointment for 3PM tomorrow for a replacement tire and an oil change.
What lessons can I learn from this? I felt pretty vulnerable stranded at night on the side of the Interstate with hundreds of cars and trucks going by at deadly speed. It was very frustrating that my Roadside Assistance service couldn't help me. (I'm going to call them back to complain and likely get a reimbursement for my expenses.) It might be wise to know a few wrecker services in your area and have them programmed into your phone. I am also going to investigate whether it is worthwhile to get a different Roadside Assistance service.
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