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A woman has gone viral on TikTok after issuing a safety warning to drivers about the importance of regularly tightening their car\u2019s lug nuts.<\/p>\n
Late last week, user @abundantlyrooted posted a video marking the fifth anniversary of a traumatic accident in which a loose lug nut struck her face. Holding up the metal piece\u2014about the length of a finger\u2014she told viewers, \u201cThis lug nut went through my face five years ago today.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s fully healed now, but said recovery was a grueling three-year process involving more than 30 surgeries. By sharing her story, she hopes to raise awareness and prevent similar accidents from happening. As of this writing, her video had racked up more than 728,700 views.<\/p>\n
@abundantlyrooted said she was driving about 60 mph toward another car traveling at a similar speed when, without warning, the other driver lost a lug nut.<\/p>\n
The metal piece shot through her windshield \u201clike a perfect bullet hole\u201d and slammed into her face. In a follow-up video<\/a>, she explained that her 12-year-old son was in the passenger seat at the time. He later told her she kept driving for about 30 seconds after the impact, though she has no memory of it. She recalled being found on the side of the road, fearing she might die in front of her child.<\/p>\n Further down the highway, she said, the man\u2019s tire came off entirely and struck a couple on a motorcycle. She didn\u2019t share details about their condition to protect their privacy, but described the entire ordeal as \u201creally, really bad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was quite the day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Getting your lug nuts torqued to the correct spec is what keeps your wheels<\/a> from becoming dangerous projectiles. When tightened correctly, the wheel stays snug against the hub, reducing the risk of wobble, vibration, or detachment<\/a> at highway speeds.<\/p>\n The Torque Wrench Is a Fascinating Piece of Engineering<\/a> If your lug nuts are too loose, a wheel can eventually work itself free while you\u2019re driving. Too tight<\/a> and you risk stripping the threads, warping the wheel hub, or damaging your brake rotors.<\/p>\n A torque wrench might seem intimidating at first, but it ensures even pressure across the wheel, improving handling and braking while minimizing wear and tear. Skip this step, and you could end up with anything from a shaky ride to a total freak accident\u2014as @abundantlyrooted knows all too well.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not confident in your torque skills, you can follow step-by-step guides<\/a> online or head to your nearest mechanic.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lug nuts might be small, but they\u2019re critical to keeping you safe on the road. In her initial clip, @abundantlyrooted reminded drivers to torque their lug nuts \u201cevery time that your tire comes off of your car.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then,\u201d she added, \u201c50 to 100 miles after that, they need to be retorqued.\u201d<\/p>\n Many viewers of @abundantlyrooted\u2019s initial video were stunned. Some praised her surgeons for their skill and dedication\u2014but above all, commenters celebrated that she had survived and persevered through such a tragic accident.<\/p>\n \u201cGirrrl\u2026 you DO NOT look like what you\u2019ve been thru,\u201d one wrote. \u201cThank you for sharing your misfortune for our safety.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy jaw literally dropped when you said 30 surgeries\u2026 I have to say, they did a very good job. So glad you\u2019re alive,\u201d added another.<\/p>\n \u201cHoly moly! Thank you for sharing this,\u201d a third said. \u201cI in no way want to minimize what you\u2019ve gone through, but I just want to say you look amazing and I would never have guessed that something so serious happened to you.\u201d<\/p>\n Some viewers admitted they had never heard her advice about retorquing lug nuts after 50 to 100 miles, but @abundantlyrooted stressed that mechanics and others should be teaching this to every driver.<\/p>\n \u201cIdk what torquing a lug nut means,\u201d one said before guessing, \u201ctightening?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s crazy!! Never seen anyone \u2018re torque\u2019 them,\u201d said another. \u201cNever torqued or retorqued them. Never had one come loose.\u201d<\/p>\n To that, @abundantlyrooted replied: \u201cThe auto body shops SHOULD be telling their customers to come back for a retorque after driving. Many don\u2019t, and they know better.\u201d<\/p>\n Others\u2014some of whom claimed to work in auto body shops\u2014backed her up.<\/p>\n \u201cI tell people all the time properly torqued lug nuts are more important than you will ever know,\u201d one said. \u201cOver-torquing is just as dangerous as under-torquing, because both can cause them to fly off under stress.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI retorque my wheels every now and then just to be sure,\u201d another added. \u201cAny weird vibrations, you should do it too, just in case anyone has been messing with your car.\u201d<\/p>\n Commercial Tire<\/a> also backs up @abundantlyrooted, noting that after a tire replacement, \u201cit\u2019s crucial to have your lug nuts retorqued in accordance with the manufacturer\u2019s recommendations,\u201d which is usually after the first 50-100 miles of driving.\u00a0<\/p>\n Motor1<\/em> has reached out to @abundantlyrooted via a direct message on TikTok.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A woman has gone viral on TikTok after issuing a safety warning to drivers about the importance of ...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-event-coverage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5475"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5478,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5475\/revisions\/5478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bruntonwolf.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why Is it Important to Torque Your Lug Nuts?<\/h2>\n
Bosch Fixes Torque Wrenches That Could Be Hacked To Display Incorrect Specs<\/a><\/p>\nCommenters Thank Woman for Sharing Her Story\u00a0<\/h2>\n
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