General Motors is looking to reinvent the wheel with revolutionary airless tires
Automaker General Motors is partnering with Michelin to develop a new non-pneumatic wheel and tire combination that they hope to see on some production models by 2024. Instead of a chamber of air, the new system, codenamed Uptis or 'Unique Puncture-proof Tire System,' will use a flexible composite matrix to bear a vehicle's weight. This will greatly reduce blowouts and premature wear due to improper inflation.
A Charlotte, N.C., woman changing a flat tire had to use her feet to dial 911 after her car fell off its jack and trapped her hands.
(Colleton County Fire-Rescue)
Colleton County Fire-Rescue says the woman, whose identity was not released, was parked on the shoulder of I-95 and installing the spare when the jack slipped and both of her hands got trapped between the tire and the fender. Photos indicate the corner of the car she was working on was parked on the grass siding rather than paved asphalt.
(Colleton County Fire-Rescue)
Unable to free her hands, after about 35 minutes she’d managed to remove a shoe and use her toes to get her cell phone and dial 911.
HOW TO CHANGE A FLAT TIRE SAFELY
Rescue crews were able to get one of her hands out with a prybar, but had to use a hydraulic spreader to lift the car so she could remove the other hand.
The entire ordeal lasted 45 minutes, according to the official report, and the woman suffered severe damage to both hands and all of her fingers, requiring treatment at a local trauma center.