Flat Tire Help on I-15, US-95 and the Beltway in Las Vegas

Hold the wheel firmly, slow down gradually, turn on the hazards and steer to the right shoulder or the next exit ramp. Do not brake hard. A flat can pull the car to one side. Once stopped, stay belted in with the doors locked and call.

A blowout feels like a sudden thump and a pull toward the flat side. Keep both hands on the wheel, ease off the gas and let the car slow on its own, braking lightly only once you have control. Signal and move right, to the shoulder or an exit where there is room. Try to stop on firm, level ground, away from the traffic side. Park, set the parking brake and turn the wheels away from the road if you have room. On a narrow shoulder, do not get out to look at the tire. Passing traffic is the greatest danger. Give the operator the freeway, your direction and the nearest exit, then wait in the car.

Only a short distance, slowly, to reach a safe place. Driving on a flat ruins the tire and can bend the wheel. If an exit ramp or a lot is close, a slow crawl there is safer than stopping in a lane. Otherwise stay where you are.

A tire with no air collapses, and the rim can cut into the sidewall and bend as you drive. Every yard on it makes repair less likely and replacement more likely. At the same time, a stopped car in a travel lane is dangerous. If the nearest safe spot is within sight, drive there at walking speed with the hazards on. If it is not, pull as far right as you can and stay put. Do not drive on a flat across lanes or at speed to reach a distant exit. If the tire is only low, not flat, you may be able to reach a station or a lot, but drive gently and check it often.

It depends on the vehicle: under the trunk floor on most cars, under the cargo floor or the rear on many SUVs, and under the bed on many pickups. The owner's manual has the exact spot in the section on flat tires. Newer cars may have an inflator kit instead.

The table below lists the usual places by vehicle type. Many cars store the spare under a trunk mat or a panel, with the jack and wrench in a foam tray nearby. SUVs often hide the spare under the rear floor or on the back door. Pickups commonly hang it below the bed, held by a cable you lower with a crank rod. If you cannot find the spare, check the manual or look for a label on the trunk lining. Knowing before you need it is worth a look on a calm day. If the car has no spare, you will want an inflator kit or a roadside call.

Give the freeway name, your direction of travel and the nearest exit number or cross street, and share your phone location if you can. Exit numbers and mile markers are the fastest way to find a car on a long road.

Look for the green exit signs and the small mile marker posts on the right shoulder. Say which freeway you are on, whether you are headed north, south, east or west, and which exit you passed last or are about to reach. On surface streets, give the cross streets and a landmark. Most phones can share a map pin by text, which the operator can use alongside what you say. If you are in a parking structure, say the level and the nearest numbered column. If you are not sure, describe what you see: a sign, a building, a billboard. Details help more than people think.

Nevada's Department of Transportation runs a Freeway Service Patrol on some Las Vegas freeways. Check its website for current coverage and hours. It can help stranded drivers on covered routes, but it does not cover every road or every hour, so have a backup plan.

The Freeway Service Patrol is a state program that sends trucks along busy freeway sections to help stopped drivers. Coverage areas, hours and services change, so the Nevada Department of Transportation's site is the place to check; a link is below. If a patrol truck is not nearby, or you are on a road it does not cover, a roadside call gets a truck to you. Either way, the safest place to wait is inside the car with the hazards on. Do not accept rides or help from strangers who stop. If you feel unsafe, call 911.

Call 911 first if anyone is hurt, if the car is stopped in a travel lane, or if you feel unsafe. Then call the roadside line. Roadside help fixes tires and batteries; it does not replace emergency services.

An injured passenger, smoke from the car, a car blocking traffic or a person who is behaving threateningly are all reasons to dial 911 before anything else. In extreme summer heat, a stranded driver who feels dizzy, faint or ill should call 911 too. Stay on the line with the dispatcher and follow instructions. Once the emergency is handled, or if there never was one, the roadside line takes it from there. Keep a charged phone in the car, and keep water in the trunk in summer. A car sitting on a shoulder in July with no shade is a bigger problem than a flat tire.