RATS!! I RIPPED IT!
I now understand why people say never to try to swerve out of the way of an animal when driving; because it's more likely you'll get in an accident while trying to save the animal's life. Today, I experienced this, on a more grotesque level.
As I do every day when I return home from work, I pull into my driveway. Narrow as a mote built for a canoe, it's a tight fit pulling in. I've got the fit mastered though and can pull in with ease and confidence...until today. Today, as I pulled in, I noticed a dead, flattened like a cardboard box, except for its head, rat laying in the wheel's path. The same rat I noticed when I left at 6:50am. I attempted to swerve from the carcass (which is silly since it's already dead) and in that attempt I turned the wheel into the corner of a sharp red brick wall at tire level. I heard a loud noise, a hissing, a clunking, and turned the car to park in my spot just a few feet away. I got out thiniking I had hit the wall, only to find out I had managed to TEAR, all the way through, a finger sized hole in the side of my tire.
My first thought was, I'll call AAA. I never use them, so at least they can change the flat for me and put air in my spare. Then I remembered that I had bought a warranty on my tires that includes ANYTHING that goes wrong with them. So I called Discount Tires, and to my relief, I can get a brand new replacement at no charge. So, in the end, what did I learn? If the animal is dead, it's not worth a new tire and sometimes warranties aren't 100% useless.
**debating putting pics of the tire and smooshed rat on here
posted by Tamara @ 6:04 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Please post pics of the dead rat. Thanks.
Get rid of AAA. I'm sure you can do much better price and service-wise on your auto insurance. (This is NOT a spam.) I have excellent roadside service through Verizon!
I still cringe a bit when I see animals crushed or killed on or alongside the roadways, but I stopped trying to swerve around them years ago. They're dead. The live ones get the brakes and the fancy driving.
Photos of the rat are not needed, but I wouldn't mind seeing what you did to that poor radial.
Oh the humanity!
No rat pictures...he's really really smooshed now.
I don't have AAA Insurance, though I'm told they are quite competitive actually.
I would never get insurance through my cell phone company.
Yuck!!! My friend swerved to avoid hitting a squirrl and she hit the curb just right and popped her tire.
I love AAA, you get so much more than towing and tire changing. Anyway....around here we have to swerve to avoid deer and if you've ever hit a deer, popping a tire would be getting off easy.
Anyway, look at it this way, at least you didn't damage your car.
At least you weren't hurt, just think of the poor rat. ;)
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