This past weekend, another vehicle spiking incident occurred around one o’clock in the morning on the N1 highway just before the Stormvoël Offramp in Pretoria.
Fortunately, Arrive Alive reports that no one was injured in the incident, and that authorities were on the scene for assistance and further investigations.
That said, the location of the spiking – being within a major city – is of particular significance.
Previously, the majority of spiking incidents happened on quieter freeways generally far away from urban areas where there were limited lighting and few people, providing plenty of opportunities for thieves to hide from their targets and escape the scene of the crime rather easily before the police arrived.
One such example is the N4 freeway between Pretoria and Bronkhorstspruit, about a 40km stretch of road with lacklustre lighting and few motorists during off-peak hours.
However, the newest spiking incident took place on a generally very busy road with plenty of streetlamps that is flanked by residential areas, suggesting that vehicle spikers are becoming more desperate and brazen in their attacks.
Motorists have thus been urged to stay vigilant and be on the lookout for spikes and objects in the road regardless of where they’re driving.
Escaping a spiking incident
Should you be the victim of a spiking incident, you’ll be glad to know that your car’s tyres can keep going despite the damage and get you to safety.
Dunlop Tyres South Africa’s leading technical tyre expert, Keith Phelps, explains that when you hit a spike, it damages the carcass or casing plies of the tyres which severely affects the vehicle’s handling and braking, in turn increasing the risk of losing control.
To keep it composed, Phelps says avoid braking and continue holding the steering wheel so that the vehicle can travel in a straight line.
When brakes are quickly applied on a vehicle with a flat tyre, a sudden weight shift occurs from the rear to the steer axle, which may lead to a loss of control.
“My view is that you’d rather lose the tyre, than lose control of the vehicle,” said Phelps.
If you feel unsafe pulling over, you can continue driving on a flat tyre if there are no other options.
“Only in these types of situations, continue driving – and I’d recommend driving at 30-40km/h to get out of a potentially dangerous situation to safety,” said Phelps.
Additionally, the expert notes that, depending on the severity of the damage, weight of the vehicle, and speed, the casing or carcass of the wheel could break which will further impact handling ability.
“The casing integrity of your tyre will be negatively affected and will distort the casing plies which means the tyre cannot be repaired,” said Phelps.
“Sparks may come off a steel rim when the rim contacts the road surface. With an alloy rim, no sparks would occur, however, as alloy rims are softer, more damage would occur.”
After you’ve gotten to safety and contacted the authorities, it’s best to replace the damaged wheel as soon as possible rather than trying to repair it.
In many cases, the steel protector breaker plies inside the tyre break upon impact, rendering the wheel completely unfixable.
“The tyre cannot be repaired as its casing or carcass integrity has been affected,” said Phelps.
“Note that if the tyre is repaired and placed back into service, the tyre will fail.”
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