What to do if Your Car Breaks Down

So often we’re diving down the road and see a vehicle broken down on the side of the road and we feel terrible for that person and at the same time grateful that it’s not my car. If you are having a breakdown have you really thought through what you would do? We have put together some suggestions and thoughts on what to you should try to do to be as safe as possible. So here are some helpful ideas for you to think about. Remember these are just basic thoughts and you have to be the one to make the critical choices at the time as the situation unfolds can be very dangerous.

1 - When driving along and you feel your car’s performance change indicating that there is a problem (slowing speed, noises, smoke, flat tire, out of gas) slow down or coast to the right side of the road onto the shoulder if possible.

2 - Let other drivers know that your vehicle is in trouble by turning on your flashers immediately.

3 - If you're on a highway and you don’t make it off the road you have two choices. Get out of the car and make a mad dash to the shoulder which is very dangerous or stay in the car until help arrives. Sitting in a car with traffic driving by is a scary proposition however in most cases it is probably the safer choice than taking a suicide run through traffic.

4 - If you are stuck in the middle of the highway call 911 and then for a tow truck.

5 - If you're able to get your vehicle to the side of the road, move off to the right as far as possible. Pop your hood as it is a good sign your vehicle is in distress and you need help. Keeping a white rag in your car is also another good thing to have so you can hang it from a window as another sign showing distress. When exiting your car make sure to look 2-3 times as the oncoming traffic is moving faster than you think.

6 - Often times someone will stop and offer assistance. Be careful about accepting help if you're in an isolated area. There are a lot of wonderful people out there that will change a tire or offer you some kind of assistance just be careful.

7 - It is better to stay with your vehicle however if you decide to walk for help stay as far off the road as possible. Just because you're walking in the emergency lane dosen’t mean you're safe. Be aware of your surrounding as people swerve into the emergency lane all the time.

There is a lot to think about with a possible breakdown. What would you do? Do you have emergency phone numbers handy. Do you belong to a roadside assistance program? Do you have a road emergency kit with reflective lights or road flares?

These are good questions not only for young drivers but also yourself. Most breakdowns are not totally awful events but they can be if not handled with the best thought process. A breakdown usually requires some quick thinking and not being panicky. The purpose of this email is just to have you think about what would you do and hopefully help you be a little better prepared by thinking about the possibility of a breakdown in advance.

Hopefully it will never happen to you however I myself have had several flat tires through the years and once ran out of gas which is a funny story now however it was not funny when it happened. In short I had a project that I had been procrastinating about so I wrote a reminder note on a folded piece of paper and placed it on my dashboard. So I’m driving towards downtown where I worked when my car “broke down” right before I 285 on I 85. I was barely able to make it to the side of the road where there is only a small emergency lane and a large 30 foot wall so there was not anywhere for me to go to get away from the road where the drivers are going 60+ mph. I had no idea what had happened until I moved the piece of paper on my dashboard and then became enlightened. This dummy had put the paper in front of the gas gauge so I could not see it and I had run out of gas. That was a very scary situation. Fortunately a friend lived only a few minutes away and was able to bring me a can of gas. Those 25 minutes sitting there with thousands of cars going by so fast was very unnerving.