It can be difficult and scary to be left stranded somewhere with a broken-down vehicle. You'll be relieved to know that you no longer have to panic. With a little knowledge, it is possible to safely remove yourself from these sticky situations.
Keep your cool
The first and most critical step in dealing with a vehicle's breakdown is to stay calm and evaluate the condition. If achievable, pull over in a secure location, like to the shoulder of the street or a nearby parking lot. Use your hazard lights to caution other drivers and shield yourself.
Tow trucking
If you ever get unfortunate enough to break down in the middle of nowhere, there’s no need to worry. You can call a tow truck service and be on your way home in no time. Your vehicle and your family can be collected and taken to safety. Although it is frustrating to break down, your safety is a priority. Hence, call a towing service as soon as possible to get to safety and put your vehicle somewhere safe.
Determine the cause of the breakdown
Is the problem engine trouble, a flat tire, a dead battery, or something else? Even if you have bought a new car, any of these things can happen. If you don’t know, listen for anything that sounds unusual or check for warning lights on your dashboard. Understanding the cause of the problem will help you decide what to do.
Get some further assistance
Roadside assistance for the car If you can’t get yourself out of trouble, get someone who can. Place a call for help. Use a roadside assistance service, such as AAA, or your vehicle’s roadside assistance program. Explain where you are and the difficulty, so when they get there, they are prepared to help.
Stay in your car
The exception to all this is if someone calls to your car needing assistance. Then remember that your safety—and the safety of those around you—comes first. Stay inside the car, and lock the doors. If you have to wait for help on a freeway, stay inside the car until you see help coming or you trust the person who has stopped for you. Learn to judge when to get out; most of the time, it’s best to stay in the vehicle, lock the doors, and use your flashlight and blanket as necessary.
Talk to the other people
If you have passengers in your vehicle when the car breaks down, let them know what’s going on so they can help you in any way they can—mentally, emotionally, or even just by being a second set of eyes. If you can’t call for a tow truck yourself, ask another motorist or pedestrian to do so on your behalf. Use your judgment when accepting help from strangers who stop to offer it, however. You don’t want to turn a simple breakdown into something worse by giving out your address to a stranger in the middle of nowhere.
Be proactive
You’ve looked over the car, and you have an idea of what you think the problem might be. Why wait for the service to come when you might be able to head something else off? For example, you might be able to fix a flat tire with a spare tire or a repair kit. If you keep driving while your vehicle is overheating, it’s best to pull over, turn off the vehicle, and prevent further damage to the car. Then you can start driving again.
A next step
It is important to make sure after you have gotten help and know you have fixed the problem right to keep your car running healthy. You may also want to look into scheduling regular maintenance check-ups to avoid any breakdowns or to ensure that your vehicle will stay dependable with proper maintenance making car ownership less of a headache.
Understanding from experience
Learning from experiences like this can help you deal with similar situations in the future if they arise. Having a few key items in the interior of your car can be very beneficial for a wide range of reasons - one example being always having a flashlight on hand after 7 pm when the sun has already gone down. Another example would be always having a way to charge your phone with a phone charger in your car. We cant stress how much of a good idea taking a defensive driving course would be. Also in the event a failure occurs in any of the above examples, having roadside assistance can really unwind your nerves.