I was traveling South on I95 about a mile form exit 89 in ct. I lost the tread of the rear drivers side tire. From the time I noticed the road feeling a little rough to realizing that I had what I thought was a blowout took maybe 10-15 seconds. (once I exited the car I was surprised the entire tire had separated at both sidewalls.) I felt I was real lucky to have escaped having an accident or injury as when the tire came off I had little control of the car as it headed right toward the guardrail then back left crossing the into the high speed lane before finally coming to a stop.

- Hobe Sound, FL, USA

First, understand there was no accident, no one got hurt, and it didn't cost me a dime. The dealer and warranty picked up the full tab. All it cost me was a little aggravation. However, I feel it should not have happened. It started when I had a flat tire. I removed the flat and put on the spare, no problem. The tire had a sidewall puncture so first thing Monday I took it to gk tire & auto for replacement. They mounted a new tire and put the spare back in the trunk. That is where things went wrong. My Prius would not start. I called the dealer. The dealer sent a tow truck and hauled the Prius off. The next day they called to say it was fixed. The service ticket said "pulled code P0A0D...cleared codes, and checked service plug. Found partially pulled out."... "installed service plug all the way and test drove vehicle. Good, done". because gk tire had no reason to be anywhere but in the trunk I assume that is where the 'service plug' is and they knocked it out of place when they re stowed the spare. My problem is that if the tire people could do that, then I might have done that. And, if I had done that it could have been in the middle of no where, or even worse, the cross bronx expressway. I would not expect that I would have to treat the tire compartment of a trunk like a fine swiss watch. If that was the problem, I consider it a design deficiency. When gk tire put it on the lift? still a design deficiency. It should not have happened.

- Maize, KS, USA

Collision: A collision never occurred with any object, based on the physical location, where the vehicle came to rest. I enclose three (3) photographs showing the condition of the car, the two right tires blown out, and the car having ground to a haltfrom the weight of vehicle as it sharply veered right into (not onto) the right hand shoulder of 101. I lost control after hearing a bang, but no airbag deployed, further proving there was no collision. Location: The officer reported the location of the incident being at the intersection of 101 and 18th street (where there also is an overpass): However, after comparing my photographs and the unique geographic features in the photos to google maps, I was able to correctly identify the crash site about 15-20 meters past the 22nd street pedestrian overpass, where the highway grade is uphill curving left; & signs say to reduce speed to from 55 to 50 mph approaching the top of potrero hill, near sf general hospital. There is no guard rail or sign posts to hit; only a soft shoulder (bordered by shrubbery) exists where I came to a halt: There was nothing (no objects) to collide with. (see attached) road condition: Very narrow shoulder: Maybe 5 feet. Pebbles rocks and dirt make up the shoulder, and slightly affected the car's direction, but primarily caused damage, pulling off the read bumper, scratching the body throughout, and causing the front right wheel to collapse like a beer can, after the front right, then the rear right tire blew out. I attempted to push the car, at my own risk from the right lane, but it felt as if all four brakes had seized, so I could not budge the vehicle so much as 1/10th of a millimeter, with all my weight and strength.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

I had a rear tire blow out for no apparent reason. I did not hit anything. And it appears to be a defect. I did have to drive off road to safely avoid risky situation. The Toyota dealer refused to take up with yokohama. I bought the car only in February this year and barley has any miles on it. The dealership completely unhelpful. This is clearly a defect and safety hazard!

- Amherst, MA, USA