The Importance of Road Flares

For 35 years of my life I have never needed to use a road flare. Usually, it is just one of those perks that you get when you are fortunate enough to end up with  an auto-emergency kit  from your parents for Christmas. Do I think they are useful.... yes, would I specifically go to the store and buy some? .... sadly no.... it tends to fall into the category of things that you only buy after you have needed one.

Yes, I have found myself in some pretty sticky situations while driving, however, a majority of them were easily taken care of by the means of AAA, Progressive roadside assistance or any of the other services that I could think of at the time. 

Last year, however, I did find myself in a situation that was unlike most that I have encountered. We were on our way to Seattle in the middle of the night due to road closures from a massive snow storm. 

The roads had just opened up and we were eager to make a bad decision and drive through the night so we could get there in time for Christmas eve.

It was about midnight when our tire blew out and forced us onto the 4 ft wide shoulder. As moved towards the edge of the road, I tried recalling everything I knew about this type of emergency.

Given the road  conditions and our location fI drove as long as I could on the flat to try and get us into a better place for me to put on the spare but it just wasn't coming.

Normally I would hop out and swap it no problem, however, I had to consider the fact that most of my body would be exposed and good target for any sleepy driver/trucker that passes by.  Not eager to play chicken with a semi, I turned on my hazards and dialed 911 to have a cop dispatched to my location to divert traffic long enough to change the tire.

Given the fact we were 50 miles away from the nearest town it was going to be a while. The whole time we sat there, I anxiously watched in my review mirror for any car that wasn't noticing my lights, so I can be ready to move if they weren't changing lanes.

That being said, I was kicking myself for not making sure road flares were part of my tire changing kit in my trunk.Since then, they have become the staple of my emergency kit for all of my vehicles.  #emergencypreparedness #Preppedtolive #Prepared