Posted on Fri, Nov 2, 2012 : 8:43 a.m.
Semi with blown tire slows traffic on M-14 near Ann Arbor
By Cindy Heflin
A disabled tractor-trailer rig was slowing traffic on M-14 east of Ann Arbor Friday morning.
The truck blew a tire while traveling in the westbound lanes of the freeway just east of Ford Road, a dispatcher with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office said.
The truck was not reported to be blocking the freeway, the dispatcher said just after 8:30 a.m., but a Google traffic map showed a significant traffic slowdown on the freeway.
Michigan State Police responded to the incident.
View Disabled semi in a larger map
Comments
brimble
Fri, Nov 2, 2012 : 4:02 p.m.
While a blown tire might have been the precipitating event, the left front wheel appeared to have separated from the axle altogether, driving the nose of the semi into the dirt in the median. It is remarkable that the semi -- a double-trailer dirt or gravel hauler -- came to rest without creating a much more dire situation. Props to the driver for holding it together and preventing injury.
Ann English
Tue, Nov 6, 2012 : 12:20 a.m.
You make it like the driver was right NOT to pull over on the right shoulder; you may be right. The one and only (so far) semi I have seen blow one tire kept right on going north on US-23 with the blown tire getting shredded. It didn't affect traffic behind it at all. We usually hear of worse results from such events: no trailer coming unhitched, no spillage on the freeway.