Jeeebus!!! Glad you are okay!
The fact that that happened - total suckage.....

 

Thats a federal mandate which had its roots in the Firestone/Exploder circus. While there are a few people (such as yourself) who might regularly check air-pressure/inspect tires, the rest dont. Most people dont bother to check pressure until something happens or they do something that as a matter of course (such as going on a long trip) requires them to do so. So the TPMS isn't such a bad idea given that a tire 20% or more under the vehicle manufacturers recomended cold inflation pressure is considered dangerously under inflated (unless there are aftermarket rims and tires fitted, then it is dependant on other factors, primarily dictated by the OE load requirement with the OE tire/wheel package). The feds should have also required nitrogen instead of air with adoption of TPMS, but hopefully the industry is headed that way.

 

The thing that bothers me is when my wife's tire exploded due to a spike left in the road (she was driving her F150 4x4), she had no problem slowing to the side of the road from 70mph.
IMO the whole Firestone/Exploder circus was due to drivers who got spooked by a blow-out. That has been happening since cars were invented. Car and Driver even proved it.

 

I had an 2001 LS V8 Sport and it was a VERY nice car and still the best handling car I've ever owned - including the '05 & '07 Mustangs (which handle much better than my 2000 and 1995 Mustangs)....if I needed a 4 door coupe I'd go take advantage of the insane rebate/discounts on this car.....too bad Ford fumbled the Lincoln line so badly and the LS got the axe because of it.....agreed one of the few "World Class" cars that Ford has ever made and one underrated car......man if Lincoln would have made a smaller and a larger model based on the LS - would have been excellent competiton for the BMW/Audi line...but it just wasn't in the cards...