I think it is only an advisory not to attempt a minor repair, rather than a mandatory action.
It does never cease to amaze me though, the other week I had to go and do a job on the M1 which was to change the rear punctured tyre on a car. I only went to do it because our car breakdown technicians were all busy and by the time I got to the guy he had been waiting an hour. There was no particular problem, he had a decent spare and all of the equipment (if he had wanted to do it himself), it was the middle of the morning and a lovely sunny day - the guy was fit and healthy and I would guess in his early twenties. The thing is he hadn't even attempted to try to change the wheel, nothing had been touched, even the wheel trim was still on. Five minutes later I had him sorted and ready to go, and as he signed the paperwork I asked him where he was going to. He was off to a job interview in London and obviously time was now going to be tight as he had 'lost' an hour.
Now if that was me I would not have dreamt of calling out a breakdown service just to change a wheel. At the very least I would have attempted it myself, especially if I was in his circumstances. Maybe that is just me though, do others think differently?
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Do you think he was an estate agent or a mobile 'phone salesman?
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I would probably do a nearside wheel myself provided I had a lookout to warn me of any approaching danger. I would not attempt to work on the offside of the car under any circumstances on a motorway.
I believe that 1/3 of all motorway accidents are on the hard shoulder.
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If i get calls to a motorway breakdown with a puncture I will always call police on the phones provided to cone off an area to work in.
If that is unavailable I will ALWAYS drive on the puncture to the nearest service area or other working area.
New tyre is way cheaper than my life ! Under no circumstances would I even attempt a puncture change
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I have changed an offside wheel on the hard shoulder. I drove over the kerb and onto the grass with just enough hard shoulder to give the jack a firm base. I took the wheelnuts off by touch as I spent all my time looking at the oncoming traffic ready to leg it.
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''Maybe that is just me though, do others think differently?'
Yes I think its just you, What you were expecting the man to do was downright dangerous. He was following he correct procedure. Save an hour or risk your life, not a difficult question really. What doyou think break- down servides are for? Not sure from your post if you drive a breakdown truck but it is actually illegal to stop on a motorway to assist a breakdown unless you are in an appropriately equipped vehicle and have the necessary permit
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Now if that was me I would not have dreamt of calling out a breakdown service just to change a wheel. At the very least I would have attempted it myself, especially if I was in his circumstances. Maybe that is just me though, do others think differently?
An ideal world I would like to think I too would never need to call the RAC or similar for a simple tyre change.
However, the last few times I've removed wheels from any of my cars, usually for cleaning, it's been virtually impossible - infact today I gave up trying to get the rear wheel off my 5 Series becuase the nuts were done up so tightly. I can only assume this is becuase tyre fitters insist on using those stupid air guns to tighten wheels, making it virtually impossible to then remove the wheel again by hand.
Knowing this is the case with my car, if I got a puncture before I'd had a change to look at sorting this, I would call the RAC without bothering to get out of the car simply because I know I can't remove the wheel..
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