Hit a pothole at 140 kph and you’re dead, a case against the Prado TX

One Sunday morning on Mombasa road Prado driver who had just whizzed past me got a front tire burst, he had his family. I was at 100, he must have been at 120 km/h. The burst was so bad the rubber was completely vaporized and the rim was grinding the tarmac.

It was a scary incident to watch, and I didn’t want to witness the eminent crash that was about to unfold before my eyes. I longed to close my eyes or look away but being behind the wheel myself, I had to keep my eyes on the road a head.

The screeching, grinding and ‘fire crackers’ continued for about 200 meters just as the Prado was approaching the roundabout. It was a great relief to the occupants and to myself as the car came to a complete stop without a roll or veering off the road.

What baffles me to this day is how the driver managed to keep the car under control to the point that it kept to its lane the entire time as he struggle to bring it to a final halt. You’ll agree that a car of a Prado-type ground clearance & rim size is hell to handle on 3 wheels.

Whenever I listen to those horror stories about the car and how it conspires with physics to murder its driver and make pious women into widows and innocent kids to grope through life without a father, i recount this episode and wonder whether this guy was just lucky or he is a seasoned professional SUV driver whose skills came into play on the day they were desperately needed. I can’t help but wonder what goes wrong with the ill-fated machines that drive their owners to their untimely deaths even without anything as serious as a tyre burst.