Car Breakdown Tips From Rescuemycar.com

Date posted: June 2, 2015

In the unfortunate event that you breakdown, on the motorway or any other roads, it’s good to have some knowledge on staying safe and what to do whilst you’re broken down. Although we hope you won’t need to put this advice into action, we’ve listed some helpful car breakdown tips should the worst happen.

Breaking down on motorways

In the event that you breakdown on a motorway, you should:

• Leave at the next junction (if possible) or stop at the nearest motorway service station. If you have to stop immediately then pull into the hard shoulder carefully, with clear indication.
• Park your car as far to the left of the hard shoulder as possible, well away from motorway traffic with your wheels turned to the left.
• Switch your hazard lights and sidelights on to alert other traffic that your vehicle is experiencing a problem. In poor visibility, consider putting on your fog lights too.
• Exit the vehicle, along with any other passengers, using the left hand doors. Do not exit the vehicle onto the motorway.
• Stand far away from the motorway, preferably behind a safety barrier if there is one or up onto the bank.
• Avoid attempting to make any repairs, even if you feel the cause of the breakdown is something simple to fix. You can jeopadise your safety if you attempt to fix your vehicle on a busy motorway.
• Walk to the nearest emergency roadside telephone, keeping well away from the traffic. An indication as to where the nearest emergency telephone is can be found on the blue and white motorway signs.
• Call from your mobile telephone if it’s easier, stating your location and where you are on the motorway. Your car breakdown recovery provider will sent out a recovery service.

Breaking down on other roads

If you happen to breakdown on any other road (which is not a motorway), you should:

• Pull over in a safe place, away from oncoming traffic.
• Switch your hazard lights on to alert other traffic that your vehicle is experiencing a problem.
• Remove your vehicle from the road quickly and carefully (if you can) if your vehicle is causing an obstruction.
• Put your reflective jacket on – you should have one in the car at all times in case of emergencies such as this.
• Leave the vehicle, along with all the other passengers, if you feel your car is in danger of being unnoticed or hit by other road users. Stand in a safe place away from the vehicle and completely away from the road.
• Try to identify the fault. If it is a simple tyre puncture or a dead battery then you will be able to carry out this procedure yourself. If you’re unable to fix the fault then call you car breakdown provider immediately, before giving them a thorough description of where you are.
• If you do believe it’s safe to repair the damage to your vehicle then place a warning triangle on the road. This should be place at least 50 yards behind your vehicle.

Car breakdown recovery

Rescuemycar.com are providers of car breakdown cover and european breakdown cover, in addition to breakdown services for vans, motorcycles and fleets. Contact us today for information.