What to Do in a Motorway Breakdown (and When to Stay Inside)

• Leave at the next exit or service area if you can. If not, move left, stop as far over as possible with hazard lights on, and head for an emergency area or the hard shoulder.
• If you can leave the car safely, exit on the side away from traffic and wait behind the barrier. If you cannot, stay inside with your seat belt and hazards on and call 999.
• Never put a warning triangle on a motorway, never go back to the car to attempt repairs, and do not leave an emergency area until you have spoken to National Highways on 0300 123 5000.

What to Do If Your Car Breaks Down on a Motorway, and When Staying Inside Is the Safer Choice

If your car breaks down on a motorway, try to leave at the next exit or pull into a service area. If you cannot, move to the left, stop as far over as you can, switch on your hazard lights, and get to an emergency area or the hard shoulder. Then leave the car by the side furthest from traffic if it is safe, move well clear, and wait behind a barrier where there is one. If you cannot get out safely, stay in the car with your seat belt on and hazards flashing, and call 999 and ask for the police. That is the advice set out in The Highway Code and repeated by National Highways.

This guide covers the order of steps, smart motorways, how to tell the control room where you are, and what to keep in the car.

Step One: Get Off, or Get as Far Left as You Can

Rule 275 of The Highway Code names the safest place to stop on motorways and other high speed roads: a service area. Other places include lay-bys, emergency areas and hard shoulders. The Code adds that hard shoulders offer less protection. The aim in every case is to be somewhere less likely to put you at risk from moving traffic, and to keep well away from your vehicle and the traffic once you have stopped.

Rule 277 covers motorways directly. It says to leave the motorway at the next exit or pull into a service area if you can. If you cannot, move to the left-hand lane, then the hard shoulder or an emergency area, and stop as far to the left as possible. Switch on your hazard warning lights, and use your sidelights as well if it is dark or visibility is poor. National Highways adds that you should avoid stopping in a live lane unless you have no choice, and that stopping near an emergency telephone helps.

On a smart motorway, there can be no hard shoulder at all. National Highways says about 25 per cent of the motorway network is smart motorway. Direct Line’s guidance tells drivers to look for the orange emergency refuge areas, and says that if you cannot reach one you should stay in the car with your hazard lights and seat belts on and call 999. If you can reach one, leave through the left-hand doors, get behind the barrier and use the phone there.

Step Two: Get Out Safely, or Stay Put

This is the part that sounds odd until you read the rule. Rule 277 says to leave the vehicle by the side furthest from the traffic if it is safe to do so, and to get well away from it. Put on high visibility clothing if it is within easy reach. Keep passengers and children clear of the carriageway and wait behind a safety barrier where there is one, watching for hazards you cannot see. National Highways says animals should stay in the vehicle or under control on the verge.

If you cannot get out safely, the Code says to stay in the vehicle with your seat belt on and your hazard lights flashing, and to call 999 and ask for the police. National Highways says you can also use your vehicle’s SOS button if it has one. Staying put is not a fallback for the nervous. It is the rule for the case where leaving the car would put you in the path of traffic, so the decision is about the exit, not about how brave you feel.

The Highway Code is blunt about what not to do. It says you should not return to the vehicle, attempt repairs, or place a warning triangle on the carriageway, and the Code puts that last instruction in capital letters: “DO NOT place a warning triangle on the carriageway”. The 45 metre triangle rule in Rule 276 applies to ordinary roads and explicitly never to motorways. Rule 276 also tells drivers not to stand between the vehicle and oncoming traffic.

Step Three: Call for Help and Say Where You Are

Once you are behind the barrier, use the free emergency telephone if there is one, or a mobile phone, to call National Highways on 0300 123 5000. You can also contact your breakdown provider. The Highway Code says to face the traffic while you speak on the emergency telephone, so you can see anything approaching. Direct Line reports that there are 8,551 emergency roadside telephones across the UK. It cites an Aviva survey in which more than half of drivers think those phones do not work, and says they are regularly maintained.

National Highways lists three ways to tell the control room where you are: use the eCall SOS button if your vehicle has one, use a mobile mapping app, or quote the numbers and letters on the marker posts or driver location signs along the road. If you cannot get out and are not near a free emergency telephone, call 999 and ask for the police. Tell the operator if you are disabled, older or travelling alone.

Drivers who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired are advised by the Highway Code to register for the 999 text service before they travel. National Highways also offers a text number for roadside assistance, 0738 028 3600, for drivers with hearing, speech or physical impairments, a BSL service called SignLive, and a free Hidden Disabilities Sunflower for your vehicle that signals you could need extra support. Under Rule 279, a driver whose disability prevents them following the standard steps should switch on hazard lights, stay in the vehicle with their seat belt on, and call 999 or use the SOS button.

Step Four: Rejoining the Motorway and What to Keep in the Car

Do not simply drive off once the car is going again. If you are on a hard shoulder, Rule 278 says to build up speed, indicate and watch for a safe gap in the traffic, bearing in mind that vehicles or debris could be on the shoulder ahead. If you are in an emergency area, you must use the emergency telephone and follow the operator’s advice, and National Highways says not to leave until you have spoken to them, as they can warn traffic or close a lane to help you rejoin.

National Highways recommends keeping warm clothes, a hi-vis jacket, a torch and your breakdown cover details in the car. Direct Line, quoting the same National Highways advice, lists prevention basics: keep to the speed limit, keep left unless overtaking, check the car is roadworthy before you set off, plan regular breaks and do not drive when tired. Beyond the car itself, National Highways tells drivers not to stop to help a broken down or crashed vehicle. Call National Highways on 0300 123 5000, or 999 if someone’s life is at immediate risk.

The short version fits on a card in the glovebox: go left, get safe, get help. Leave the car by the side away from traffic when you can, stay inside with hazards and belt on when you cannot, keep the triangle in the boot for ordinary roads, and wait for National Highways before you pull away. Check your own car’s handbook to find out whether it has an SOS button, and save 0300 123 5000 in your phone before you need it.

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Sources:

• GOV.UK: The Highway Code: Breakdowns and incidents (275 to 287)
• National Highways: Driving on motorways
• Direct Line: What to do when your car breaks down on the motorway