Breakdown Cover Articles

Safety and a Motorway Breakdown

It is never pleasant suffering a breakdown when you are on a car journey, and if the breakdown occurs when you are driving along on a motorway. If you feel that your car is experiencing some problems when you are driving on a motorway, yet nothing that will cause long term and significant damage, then do you best to "nurse" your car to the next service area? If you feel that your car won't make it too far, there are always spots that you can find every few miles where you can stop your car in safety, and call for roadside assistance.

If the problem with your car is so serious that you cannot continue to drive, you should pull onto the hard shoulder as cautiously as you can, and as far to the left as you can go. Sidelights and hazard warning lights should be left on. If you are alone in the car or with adult passengers, you should step out of the car, and only from the left side. If you are travelling alone with young children, then your number one priority should be their safety, and the focus of your attention should be in keeping them safe. If you are travelling with another adult, then you should pass on the responsibility to that person.

Breaking down on a motorway is a very fraught experience and with children in the car it can be life threatening, so keep as cool a head as you can. Many responsible drivers keep a luminous jacket or jackets in their car for such an eventuality. If you have one, wear it and make sure that your passengers do too, even in the middle of a hot summer's day.

Once you know that your passengers are being taken care of, walk along the left side of the safety lane till you find an emergency phone. These are usually placed about one mile apart, so it is not too far too walk. In the age of mobile phones, people are inclined to waste valuable time and endanger their lives by attempting to call emergency services on their mobile whilst under pressure. It is so much easier to walk the maximum of one mile and make direct contact with the Motorway Police. If you see an emergency phone on the other side of the motorway, never under any circumstances should you cross the motorway to reach it.

When you reach the phone station, report your situation, your position but don't waste your time and theirs trying to explain why you think that your car broke down. Instead start to walk back in the direction of your car, and you will probably find that they will be there waiting for you when you arrive. Once the police are on the scene, the pressure will be off you. The motorway police will have called out someone to look at your vehicle and give a rapid assessment of the problems. If they can carry out a running repair to get the car running till the nearest service station or better still to a garage, then that is the best of a bad situation. If the problem is really serious, they may arrange for the car to be transported to the nearest service station, for onward transportation by your roadside breakdown service.

All in all breaking down on a motorway, whilst traumatic, does not have to be a catastrophe. It's all a case of keeping a cool head and following the proper procedures.

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