Also, he may be in the process of positioning the jack or loosing the lugs while the wheel rests on the ground so it does not spin.
Have you ever changed a flat?
The middle of the road part is definitely idiotic, though.
Yeah he’s changing a tire. The spare is on the ground, the hubcap is off and it looks like the lug wrench laying by his foot.
As the old timers in my hometown used to yell as I worked on my bicycle in the middle of the road. “That’s hell of a place to build a garage!”
Yeah, he’s pulled the wheel cover. I always break the lug nuts loose with the tire firmly on the ground. You don’t want to be applying a lot of force once it is up on the jack. Sure you *can* do it, but it is far safer to apply that torque on the ground. Same thing tightening. Good and snug on the jack, then really tight once the tire is back in contact with pavement.