To the owner of the Red Honda Element that had spontaneous "eruption" at corner of Park and Salisbury at about 3:30 PM on Friday, May 14...
I wanted to stop to talk with you as I witnessed the whole thing as I was in my vehicle waiting for the light to change. After the front end of your car simply blew up as. you accelerated across the intersection, you pulled over on Park, got out of your car and I talked with you briefly but there was nowhere for me to pull off and the light had changed. You probably know by now your tire blew out or some such, but it was spectacular as it happed right in front of me. With space all around your car I could see that no other vehicle had made contact with the Element. I googled spontaneous eruptions today and this is what I got from Mr. Google, AI car mechanic:
Severe Tire Tread Separation
This is the most common culprit for spontaneous tire blowouts and subsequent body damage. [1, 2]
- What happens: The heavy steel belts and outer tread separate from the tire casing. When this happens rapidly—especially under torque (acceleration)—the flailing rubber and steel whip around violently inside the wheel well.
- Why the bumper explodes: This whipping rubber acts like a high-speed flail. It violently strikes the plastic fender liners, tears through the lower aerodynamic undertrays, and slams into the back of your front bumper, shattering the plastic from the inside out. [1, 2, 3, 4]
I suspect you figured this out by now, but it was pretty spectacular....and I felt bad for you as your Element is near vintage at this point and looked to have been in good shape. I hope you are okay and have started to put the pieces back together.