What To Do If Your Car Breaks Down
Breaking down is disorienting, and the first thirty seconds matter more than anything that follows. This is what to do, in order, depending on where you are when it happens.
The short version
If you take nothing else from this page:
- Get the vehicle as far left as you can and switch on your hazard lights
- On a motorway or fast dual carriageway, get everyone out of the vehicle and behind the barrier
- Do not stand between your vehicle and moving traffic, and never stand behind it
- Wear a high-visibility vest if you have one, and put it on before you get out
- Then call for recovery from a safe position, not from the driver's seat
If you break down on a motorway
Signal left, move onto the hard shoulder and stop as far to the left as possible, with the wheels turned to the left. Switch on your hazard lights immediately. At night, or in poor visibility, leave your sidelights on too.
Leave the vehicle by the left-hand doors, take all passengers with you, and get behind the safety barrier and up the bank if there is one. Leave any animals in the vehicle unless there is an immediate danger.
Do not attempt repairs yourself, and do not put a warning triangle out on a motorway. Both put you in live traffic.
On a smart motorway with no hard shoulder, use an emergency refuge area if you can reach one. If you cannot stop safely off the carriageway, keep your seatbelt and hazards on, stay in the vehicle and call 999.
If you break down on an ordinary road
Pull over somewhere the vehicle is visible from a distance, ideally not on a bend or just over the brow of a hill. Hazard lights on.
On a normal road, a warning triangle placed at least 45 metres behind the vehicle is sensible where it is safe to position one. Only do it if you can get there without walking in traffic.
If you and your passengers are away from the carriageway and behind a kerb or barrier, staying out of the vehicle is usually safer than sitting in it.
If it will not start at home or in a car park
This is the least dangerous version and the one you have time to think about. Before calling anyone, it is worth checking whether it is simply a flat battery, which is the most common cause by a distance, particularly after cold weather or a car that has not moved in a while.
If a jump start does not fix it, or the vehicle starts and immediately dies again, the useful question is not what is wrong but where it needs to go. A recovery firm will want a destination, so decide whether it is heading to your garage, a dealership or home.
What to have ready when you call for recovery
Having these to hand makes the call faster and the quote accurate:
- Your exact location, including the road number and direction of travel, or the nearest marker post on a motorway
- Make, model and registration
- What happened, and whether the vehicle still rolls, steers and brakes
- Where you want it taken
- How many passengers need to travel with it
Do you need breakdown cover to be recovered?
No. Breakdown cover is a subscription that pays for recovery when you need it, but you can also call an independent recovery firm directly and pay for the single job.
Which works out cheaper depends entirely on how often you break down. If you are stood at the roadside right now without cover, an independent recovery firm is the faster route, because signing up to a policy mid-breakdown usually carries an immediate-use restriction.
Common questions
Should I stay in the car or get out?
On a motorway or fast dual carriageway, get out and behind the barrier. On a quiet road where you are safely off the carriageway, either is reasonable. The exception is a smart motorway where you cannot get off the live lane: then stay belted in with hazards on and call 999.
Can I be fined for breaking down?
Not for breaking down itself. You can face action for unnecessarily obstructing the road if you leave a vehicle somewhere hazardous for longer than needed, which is a reason to get recovery moving rather than leaving it.
Is it illegal to tow a broken-down car with a rope?
Rope towing on public roads is legal within limits, but it requires a driver in the towed vehicle with working steering and brakes, and a clear TOW sign. For most breakdowns it is neither safe nor practical, and it is not permitted on motorways.
What is the most common cause of breaking down?
Battery problems are consistently the single biggest cause of breakdown call-outs in the UK, particularly in cold weather and on vehicles doing short journeys.