subject: What To Do In The Case Of A Breakdown [print this page] Provided you maintain your car well the risk of you breaking down is quite low. As well as getting your car regularly serviced, carry out a monthly check of your tyres, brakes, wiper blades and lights. Check that you have the right amount of oil, radiator water, transmission fluid and screen wash in your car.
Even with proper maintenance, a car can still break down so make sure that you have adequate breakdown insurance. Your policy should cover the recovery of the vehicle and delivering it to a garage for repair. In addition you need a policy that gets you and your passengers either home or to your destination. Some policies offer hotel accommodation in certain circumstances. If you go abroad make sure that all the countries you will drive in are covered.
In the event of a breakdown, safety needs to be your first consideration. Immediately, put on your hazard lights. If you can, pull the vehicle off the road or onto the hard shoulder. Put on your high visibility jacket and make sure everyone in the car does the same. Then carefully get everyone out of the car and make them stand in a safe place away from the vehicle.
When traffic allows deploy your safety triangles a few feet from the back of the vehicle to warn other drivers. Once the vehicle is safely marked as a hazard and all occupants are out of the vehicle and are in a place of safety call the breakdown company. Before making the call make sure that you have your policy number, car registration and exact location available. Your sat nav system will tell you this. Motorways have identity markers every few miles, so that drivers can identify their exact location.
If you are unable to move the vehicle off the road, and you believe that it presents a risk to other drivers also call the police. If need be they will direct traffic around your vehicle. Many accidents are caused by distracted drivers ploughing into the back of broken down vehicles, in particular on motorways or dual carriageways.
