What to do right now if you’re stopped on I-40
If you’ve already pulled over and your hazards are on: stay calm, get as far off the traveled roadway as you can, keep your flashers on, and stay near or inside the vehicle rather than wandering along the shoulder. Call for tire help once you’re stopped and secure, not while you’re still rolling on a flat. We’re at (806) 471-0109, open 24 hours, and we come to you anywhere in Amarillo and the surrounding Panhandle.
The rest of this covers each step in more detail, because I-40 at night isn’t a place to improvise.
If it happens while you’re still driving
A blowout or sudden flat at highway speed is the moment most people panic, and panic is what actually causes the wreck. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s guidance is to hold the steering wheel with both hands, keep your speed steady if it’s safe to do so, and gradually ease off the accelerator instead of hitting the brakes. Correct your steering as needed to keep the vehicle pointed where you want it to go. Only once the vehicle has stabilized should you start slowing down and look for a place to pull off. (Source: NHTSA, Tires | TireWise.)
Slamming the brakes or yanking the wheel is what turns a flat tire into a rollover. Ease off, don’t stomp.
Get off the road the right way
Once you’re back in control, the Texas Department of Public Safety’s own advice for a breakdown is straightforward: park as far off the traveled portion of the highway as you can, and make your vehicle visible by turning on your flashers. (Source: Texas DPS, Travel Tips.)
On I-40 through Amarillo, that usually means the right shoulder, as far onto it as the road allows, or the nearest exit ramp or frontage road if you can safely reach one. Avoid the left shoulder or median if you have a choice; traffic moves faster past the inside lanes. I-40 through Amarillo also carries a lot of long-haul truck traffic, so give yourself as much room from the travel lane as you can get.
Make yourself seen
Turn your flashers on immediately, day or night. Texas DPS lists the following steps for a breakdown: stay calm; park as far off the traveled portion of the highway as possible; turn on your flashers; exit the vehicle from the passenger’s side, away from traffic; open the hood and leave it open; and tie a light-colored cloth to the antenna or a door handle. DPS also recommends staying with the vehicle, if possible, until uniformed law enforcement arrives, especially at night or in bad weather, and placing a “Send Help” sign in a window where other drivers can see it. If someone stops to help, DPS says to keep your doors locked, crack a window, and ask them to call law enforcement for help. (Source: Texas DPS, Travel Tips.)
If your vehicle is stuck in a live travel lane and you can’t move it to the shoulder at all, that’s a 911 call before it’s a tire call.
What the Texas Move Over law covers (and what it doesn’t)
Texas has a Move Over or Slow Down law, Transportation Code Section 545.157. It covers a specific list of vehicles, including stopped emergency vehicles and tow trucks using their lights, and TxDOT and highway maintenance or construction vehicles using warning lights. When you approach one, you have to leave the lane closest to it if the highway has two or more lanes going your direction, or slow to 20 mph below the posted limit (5 mph when the limit is under 25). (Source: Texas Transportation Code, Chapter 545.) The law doesn’t list ordinary passenger cars stopped with their hazards on, so don’t count on it to keep traffic away from you. Get as far off the road as you can. And the next time you pass someone stopped on the shoulder, slow down and move over anyway.
Should you try to change it yourself?
If you’re on a flat, well-lit surface completely clear of moving traffic, like a parking lot or a wide shoulder well off the road, changing a tire yourself is reasonable if you’re comfortable doing it. If you’re anywhere close to a live travel lane on I-40 at night, it isn’t. Jacking a car up next to fast-moving traffic in the dark is exactly the situation that gets people hurt, and it’s exactly the situation we exist for.
We only work tires, so we’re not going to try to sell you a tow, a jump, or anything else. If the tire can be repaired on the spot, we’ll do that. If it needs a new or used tire mounted right there on the shoulder, we carry both and we’ll quote the price over the phone before we drive out.
Other help while you wait
If your problem is more than a tire, or you just want another number in your phone for a night like this, Texas DPS runs a toll-free Motorists Helpline at 1-800-525-5555 for drivers whose vehicle is disabled or who are stranded on the side of the road. (Source: Texas DPS, Travel Tips.)
Do I have to change the tire myself before help arrives?
No. Our mobile tire service brings the tools and, if needed, a new or used tire to your vehicle, so the change gets handled on site by us, not by you on the side of the highway. Stay in a safe spot with your hazards on and let us come to you.
What if I’m driving a semi and blow a tire on I-40?
Same rules apply for getting off the road and staying visible, but a commercial tire is a bigger job than a passenger tire. We run semi truck tire service for trucks broken down on I-40, I-27, and the roads around Amarillo, 24 hours a day.
Call us and get back on the road
We’re open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and we drive to you anywhere in Amarillo and the surrounding Panhandle. Whether it’s a flat, a blowout, or a tire that just won’t hold air anymore, call (806) 471-0109 or request service online. We handle roadside tire service for cars, pickups, and trailers, and semi truck tire service for the trucks running I-40 through Amarillo.