A puncture on the M50 is stressful, but a few simple steps keep you safe and get you moving again quickly.
The M50 is the busiest road in Ireland. A flat tyre there can feel scary, with traffic rushing past just a few metres away. The good news is that a flat tyre is one of the easiest problems to fix at the roadside, as long as you get to safety first. Here is what to do, in order.
1. Get off the live lane
As soon as you feel the car pull to one side, hear a flapping noise or see a tyre warning light, turn on your hazard lights. Keep a firm grip on the wheel, ease off the accelerator and do not brake hard.
Move onto the hard shoulder if you can. If you are close to a junction, it is often safer to drive slowly up the slip road and stop somewhere off the motorway, such as a lay-by, a petrol station or a quiet side road. Driving a short distance slowly on a flat tyre can damage the tyre, but your safety comes first.
2. Get yourself out of danger
- Stop as far to the left as you can and turn your wheels away from the traffic.
- Leave your hazard lights on. Use sidelights too if it is dark or the weather is bad.
- Get out through the passenger side, away from the traffic, and take everyone with you.
- Wait behind the safety barrier or up the bank, well away from your car. Put on a high-vis vest if you have one.
- Do not use a warning triangle on the motorway, as walking back along the hard shoulder is dangerous.
If you cannot get out of a live lane, stay in the car with your seatbelt on and hazards flashing, and call 112 or 999 straight away.
3. Do not try to change the wheel on the hard shoulder
It is tempting to fit the spare yourself, but changing a wheel on the hard shoulder of the M50 is one of the most dangerous things you can do on an Irish road. You are crouched down, facing away from traffic, just a metre or two from lorries passing at high speed. Many newer cars also have no spare wheel at all, just a repair kit, and those kits often will not fix a larger hole or a damaged sidewall.
4. Call a mobile tyre fitter
Once you are somewhere safe, call us on 085 196 9572. To save time, have this ready:
- Where you are. Which direction you are travelling (northbound or southbound), and the nearest junction, for example J9 Red Cow or J7 Lucan. The blue marker posts along the hard shoulder also help.
- Your tyre size. It is printed on the side of the tyre, for example 205/55 R16. If you are not sure, send us a photo on WhatsApp.
- What happened. A slow puncture, a sudden blowout, or a tyre that is torn or off the rim.
We give you a clear price and an arrival time before we set off. Most M50 callouts are reached in 20 to 30 minutes, day or night.
5. Repair or replace?
When we arrive we check the damage first. If a nail or screw has gone into the central part of the tread and the tyre has not been driven on while flat, we can usually repair the puncture on the spot. If the hole is near the sidewall, the tyre is torn, or it has been driven on while flat, a repair is not safe and we fit a replacement tyre there and then.
We carry new and part-worn tyres in the most common sizes for cars, vans and 4x4s, so in most cases you are back on the road in one visit.
Where on the M50 do we cover?
All of it, from the Dublin Port Tunnel and Ballymun in the north to Sandyford and Shankill in the south, in both directions. We also cover the roads that join it, including the N7 Naas Road, the N4 at Lucan, the N3 at Blanchardstown and the N81 at Tallaght. See the areas near each junction:
- J9 Red Cow and the N7: Clondalkin and Citywest
- J7 and the N4: Lucan and Palmerstown
- J6 and the N3: Blanchardstown and Castleknock
- J5 and J4: Finglas and Ballymun
- J11 and the N81: Tallaght
- J13 to J14: Dundrum and Sandyford
Or see all of our Dublin coverage.
Quick checklist
- Hazard lights on, get onto the hard shoulder or off at the next junction.
- Everyone out through the passenger side and behind the barrier.
- Do not change the wheel yourself on the hard shoulder.
- Call 085 196 9572 with your location, junction and tyre size.