How do nails puncture a tyre when they are not sticking up

Question

A nail punctured my tyre today it was in the tread,how does it manage to be pointed end up so as to enter the tyre?

Answer 1

I agree it is tyre. I assume you are using the English spelling and not the  American English spelling.

When a tyre rolls over a nail the point can embed in the tread. As the wheel rotates pressure on the point changes opening and closing the fissure with each rotation. The point cuts the rubber and travels deeper into the tread each time eventually the elastic nature of the tyre and the inward pressure will act like a saw and cause the point of the nail to penetrate the tyre wall.  

Answer 2

I had 1 in the side?? So it jumped up>

Answer 3

first of all...its TIRE and when you roll over a nail, it moves around and changes position, thus puncturing your tire.

Answer 4

Various ways: -

1. They can be thrown up off the road by the vehicle in front (or by your front wheels), and before it settles flat on the road your tyre hits it.

2. The road surface is often uneven enough that as your tyre contacts the nail, it flicks or pivots upwards.

3. If you're parked and turning your steering wheel, any nails below the tyres can catch on the road surface and be forced into your tyre.

4. Vandals often set them up against your parked tyre so that as you drive off, they're driven into the tyre.

5. Discarded nails are often bent, the way they're bent may cause them to lay on the road with a point bent upwards.

6. Car thieves have been known to use method 4 as well, they then follow your car and when you're alone and changing your tyre they pounce on you. Afterwards you return home to find they've used your keys to rob your house.

7. Locally, kids throw matchbox or cigarette boxes into the road with a nail sticking out upwards "for fun".

In short there are all sorts of ways...

Note to hlela: be sure of your facts before pointing out the errors of others. In English, it's spelt "tyre". Americans have their own odd version of the language we invented where they spell it as "tire". Over here, "tire" is what you do when you're working hard...