Upon learning this, yours truly guddled about to unscrew said nut and was rather taken aback when the steering shaft collapsed on my next outing and it all came to an unceremonious end in a privet hedge.
What can also cause potentially catastrophic results when driving is listening to Radio 5 Live the morning after a Scot has put in a performance of distinction on the global golf stage.
Take Martin Laird's spirited share of second place in The Players' Championship at Sawgrass on Sunday night for instance. As the car radio crackled into life, there was the obvious mention of eventual winner, Matt Kuchar, but more attention was given to Luke Donald taking route 66 into sixth place with a final-round charge. Laird, the joint-runner-up meanwhile, was never given any air time. It was enough to make you throw your hands up in exasperation just as you were hurtling towards a hairpin bend.
Of course, Laird is used to operating under the radar having spent the majority of his golfing career across the pond and will probably be quite content to continue his quiet, effective progress. Kuchar's win may have helped stoke the flames of the rekindled American feel-good factor that is currently enveloping the scene on the other side of the Atlantic, but Laird's sterling efforts kept his own lofty ambitions burning brightly.
These are fairly democratic times in the world of golf just now and the landscape was altered further in Florida as Kuchar, who beat Laird in a play-off for The Barclays title in 2010, became the 20th different winner from 21 events on the PGA Tour this season.
From those tournaments contested, the US galleries have cheered on 18 home champions. With the Ryder Cup looming, it's very much a case of Europe beware.
Laird, who moved up eight places to No.31 on the world rankings, would like nothing more than to be involved in that biennial clash at Medinah in late September and his display at the weekend will have made Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe's captain, sit up and take notice.
The 29-year-old has made some telling inroads in that department and now sits 19th on the Ryder Cup's world qualifying points list. Barging his way into that team will be a huge ask for Laird, given that he missed almost six months of points gathering as he didn't take up European Tour membership until January 1, but the golfing calendar is now swinging into the peak season. The potential for serious points plundering is vast through a series of huge events, including three majors, and this is the time to build and maintain momentum.
The Glasgow exile, who has now racked up overall winnings of £5.5m and is the third highest Scot behind Colin Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie in career earnings, will make his first appearance of the season in Europe next week when he competes in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and the former Scottish Youths' champion will arrive in upbeat mood. There's plenty for Laird to build on after a closing day rally at Sawgrass which, for a spell, gave rise to a genuine belief that he could emulate The Players' Championship triumph of his celebrated countryman, Sandy Lyle, exactly 25 years ago.
"That's one of best rounds I've ever played under the circumstances," admitted Laird, whose only regret of an ultimately satisfying four days would have been the wretched conclusion to his second round which led to him leaking four shots over the last three holes.
Other than that, there was plenty to be positive about. His work with putting guru Dave Stockton continues to bear fruit. He finished fifth on the putting stats for the week and took 27 in his closing round. At the height of his final day thrust, Laird rattled in a 10-footer on the 13th for birdie which, at the time, was his eighth one-putt of the day. When he gets it going on the greens, the Scot can wield the (belly) putter to profitable effect.
Despite his two wins on the PGA Tour, and a run to the quarter-finals of the WGC Matchplay Championship earlier this season, Laird's runners-up placing in The Players', the so-called 'fifth major', was as he confessed "my best finish in a big, big marquee event ."
In the four official grand slam contests, Laird's best remains a 20th at the 2011 Masters. He's missed the cut in three US Open appearances and has departed early from the last three Opens. The majors haven't been the happiest of hunting grounds and, given his Ryder Cup aspirations, he needs to sparkle on the grandest of stages.
Nevertheless, it's all about stepping stones and Sawgrass proved again that Laird, unlike this scribe and his shoogly steering wheel, continues to head in the right direction.
