What to do if you break down?

A breakdown can be dangerous, especially if you’re on a motorway with fast moving cars around. You may think that you can park on the hard-shoulder and it’s all safe. Remember, the hard shoulder is only for emergencies, not for making calls, having a stretch or even toilet stops. Whilst the hard shoulder is safer than being in the middle lane of a motorway, it’s still not safe because there are fast moving cars and if one fails to see you or loses their control, it can lead to a disaster.

But what can you do if your car breaks down. Well the first point would be to call us for help and whilst we’re on our way, you can do the following:

1. Put your hazard lights on First and foremost, put your hazard lights on to warn other drivers of your presence and that you’re experiencing a problem. If it’s dark or foggy, then keep your sidelights on too. This will help other drivers see you and minimises the risk fo accidents.
2. Make sure you’re safe Once you’ve put your hazard lights on, then you want to ensure you reach a safe place. If possible, move your vehicle off the road but keep the hazard lights on so others can see you have broken down. If you’re on a motorway and can’t turn off at the next exit, then you should pull over on the hard shoulder and ensure you stop as far to the left as possible to allow enough room for the moving traffic.
3. Stay away from moving traffic Usually, the safest option is to get out of your car using the door facing away from the passing traffic and get yourself behind the barrier. This is because there is a higher chance that a car will hit your vehicle than you as a person and if this happens, you don’t want to be in the car because that is of course extremely dangerous.
4. Wear a reflective jacket and put your warning lights out if it’s dark If you have a reflective jacket with you, then put this on as soon as you breakdown to let other road users know about your presence. If it’s dark, you should use any light that you have in the car to notify others of your presence which will reduce the chance of any accident.
5. Don’t put a warning triangle on a hard shoulder Finally, if you’re on a motorway, it’s not safe to put out a warning triangle. However, if you’re on a road then it’s safe so do put out a warning triangle at least 45 meters behind your vehicle.

I hope you found this article useful and interesting. It’s always a good idea to save the number of a breakdown recovery service on your phone in case of a breakdown situation. If you ever breakdown without internet, it can make your experience really frustrating because you may not be cable to look up local breakdown recovery services. However, if you have the number of at least one accident and breakdown recovery service saved on your phone, then this can be very useful on the day. So do keep our details saved and let us know if you ever get stuck in a breakdown service.

Surrey and London Vehicle Breakdown and Recovery Service Fastlink Recovery

07967004000