Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump…
That is the noise I heard as I drove north towards my house on the Dallas North Tollway. My son and I had just finished a fun afternoon of “Mama and Henry Day” at the Village Depot in Allen, we were both tired and ready to be home to greet sister at the door as she got home from school. (Mama and Henry day is a day of fun that the two of us share twice a week while sister is at school. I’m trying to soak up all of my sweet boy before he starts kindergarten next year. We keep this a secret from sister…) We had 15 minutes until my daughter was to walk through the door and we were only a mile from the house. And that is when we heard the THUMPS…
Thump…Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump…
At first, I thought it was the radio. Then the car started to shake and the thump got louder! The gauge on my dash indicated that my tire pressure was at a 2 and the tire symbol flashed brightly! I pulled over to the shoulder of the road as fast and safely as possible. There’s nothing scarier than having your baby in the backseat of the car and for your car to start shaking and thumping at 70mph. I had a flat tire!
After we stopped I gathered myself and came up with a plan.
Flat Tire Plan
- Don’t panic.
- Call someone.
- Have them fix the tire!
I called my husband…. no answer.
I called my dad… no answer.
I called my mom… no answer.
I grew up on a farm, I’m confident that I could change a tire. I’m 90% sure I could change a tire with the help of youtube… But on the side of a busy tollway with 70mph cars speeding past, I lost my confidence.
New Flat Tire Plan
- Google- Roadside assistance Frisco, Tx.
- Call company to come change tire.
I reached a company and they quickly came to my rescue. I gladly paid $88 for them to change my flat tire. Within 40 minutes we were back on the road again.
As I started to drive away my Mom called. I told her what happened and she said, “You know that the NTTA (north texas toll authority) will come out and change your tire for Free, don’t you?”
No. No, I did not know that.
Don’t make my mistake! If you are on a toll road the NTTA will come to your rescue for free! Think of it as a thank you for all your toll payments!
Straight from the NTTA site:
The NTTA Safety Operations Center dispatches Roadside Safety Services team members and can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling 214-224-2203. The number is listed on your TollTag for easy reference. In an emergency, please call 911.
NTTA developed our Roadside Safety Services team to help stranded motorists, provide protection at incident scenes and assist during disasters, regional emergencies and evacuations on NTTA roadways. By responding to non-emergency situations and directing traffic, the RSS team takes much of the load off of Department of Public Safety personnel. This allows DPS to expand its coverage without deploying additional officers, concentrating their efforts where they are genuinely needed.
