Does having AWD make a tire blowout at high speed
any safer?

In 30 years of driving I have experienced my first tire blowout
at high speed.  It happened last month while driving in the left lane
of a crowded California freeway, at around 70 mph.  The vehicle
was a FWD Chevy Corcsica.  Tires were Bridgestones, almost
new.

Just before it happened I stopped to refuel at a gas station
and upon leaving I noticed a strange but barely audible click
coming from the front wheel-well.  I stopped to investigate
but found nothing, so decided to proceed.  The sound seemed
to have gone away but within minutes after re-accelerating to
highway speed my front left tire blew-out badly.  It must have
been a nail or something similar stuck in the tire and making
a strange noise. Once it got logded deeper into the rubber
it became silent (?).

The whole experience was scary but the car went straight
and I never lost control of it.  The last few moments before I
came to a full stop were extremely unpleasant and dangerous
as the partially separated tire somehow managed to get stuck
perpendicularly on the tire rim.  This caused the whole vehicle
to start bouncing violently before it stopped.  Apart from the
destroyed tire rim and my shaken nerves there was no damage.

I was very lucky.  First, not to have panicked, not to have
slammed on the brakes etc., and second not to have someone
accidentally hit me from behind.

M.J.