causes of tire falling off and is it fluid underneath car?

hard telling what the liquid stuff was, tire popping off could be studs were bad, lugnuts wrecked the studs or running a car without hub caps and lug nuts get junk in them rust on an damage threads when removed then reinstalled.

thanks for getting back to me so quickly; mechanic just called and I blew my ball joint which then blew my drive shaft which then blew my power steering line and the fluid came out; not sure what kind of fluid it is; at about 164,000 miles, am I playing with our lives trying to keep this old of a car going(2002 dodge neon)?; thx. again.

no you aren't playing with your life, just keep regular stuff up and get it checked every once in a while like suspension parts etc. the fluid cold be grease/p/s fluid and or trans fluid. if youcan get yoru car greased do that otherwise other ball joint will do the same. but i'm sure mechanic will check that as well.

thank u so much for your knowledgeable compassionate responses. it helps to know there r those out there that do really understand cars and not always have to make a buck out of it.