@Rox, maybe 18 months ago I had a tyre blow on the M1 whilst doing a “shade” over 70mph, absolutely instant, in a Kuga 4wd. It tugs ferociously towards the side that had the blowout but like you said, I coasted towards the hard shoulder. I could feel that if I’d fought it I’d have lost control and luckily it was nearside so it wanted to pull left anyway. From lane 4…
I posted about it here at the time, it was a horrible experience. I wish I’d kept a picture but lost them when I changed phone. The hole in the tread of the tire was almost like a bullet hole, you could stick a finger in it. No idea what caused it but I witnessed a brand new Bentley blowing a tire a few weeks earlier (that was quite spectacular), and another car blowing a tire a few weeks after, all roughly in the same area. Left me feeling quite dubious about using that stretch of the M1 for a bit