ODESSA, Fla. — Kevin Rehberg was in an Uber last week, going south on the Veterans Expressway, on his way to the airport for a business trip when suddenly the garbage truck just ahead blew a tire.
“It was a pretty violent explosion,” Rehberg.
Rubber and metal started pelting the car he was in.
“I instinctively, because of the sound of everything, leaned over, which actually made myself more exposed," said Rehberg.
Then he felt himself covered in glass.
“So I opened my eyes, look up and there’s this giant metal rod that had gone into the windshield and impaled into the passenger seat,” Rehberg.
Both Rehberg and his Uber driver were not hurt, and the garbage truck driver was also okay.
“The first thing I did was take a picture of it, thankfully, because if I hadn’t nobody would believe what had happened," said Rehberg.
The Florida Highway Patrol report confirmed a tire blowout did cause the crash, but there were no details as to what caused the blowout.
Experts say low tire pressure is the number one issue to look out for because low pressure causes more wear and tires are more likely to get punctured.
They also say to give yourself more reaction time should someone in front of you blow a tire, keep plenty of distance.
Meanwhile, Rehberg, a married father of two, said it was all surreal.
“You can kind of look at it two ways. You can either look at it that it is horrible luck that that happened to you. Or can look at it like that’s fantastic luck of what didn’t happen to me,” Rehberg said.
