If you are driving late at night with your children and you have a tire blowout, this can be a very stressful time. This is especially true because you have small children with you and if you have no idea how to change a tire. To help keep you and your children safe, below are some tips on what you should do in a case like this.

Change the Tire

To change the tire, you will need wheel wedges, a jack, and a lug wrench. If you have gloves in your car you will also need these.

Only change your tire if you can get in a safe place and away from ongoing traffic. Before you can change it, you have to jack it up. First, place the wheel wedges behind or in front of the tires. This will prevent the car from rolling while you are changing the tire. If the rear tire is flat, place the wheel wedges in front of the front tires, and if the flat is on one of the front tires, place the wedges behind the back tires. Use the lug wrench to remove the lug nuts.

There may be molded plastic on the bottom of the car's frame that is put there to place a jack under the car without causing damage. This prevents you from having to put the jack on exposed metal. The owner's manual for your car will have complete instructions on using a jack. Now that your car is properly jacked up, you can safely change it. If you have never changed a tire, you should find complete instructions in your car's owner's manual.

Call a Tow Truck Company

If you are not sure how to change your tire or are simply scared being out alone on a dark highway, you should call a tow truck immediately. You may not be aware, but a towing company can change your tire for you if they do not have to tow your vehicle. There will be a charge for this but this will ensure you get back on the road quickly.

If you do not have a spare tire in your trunk, you may have a donut, which is a small tire that can work long enough so you can get to a service shop. If the tow truck driver places a donut on the car, do not drive it over approximately 50 miles per hour or for over 70 miles.  The reason for this is donut tires generally only have little tread and in some cases the tire may have no tread at all.

If you have no spare at all the tow truck driver can tow your car to the nearest repair shop to have it replaced for you.

The repair shop may be able to repair the tire for you and if not you can purchase a used spare there until you get home to replace the tire with a new one.