The motorways of the UK are an essential part of the road network, helping millions of people get to where they want to be quickly and easily. After the second world war, as more people started to own cars, the roads in the UK were changed and the motorways were constructed in the decades after. Long straight roads crossing large parts of the country and in some places needing huge feats of engineering to cross some of the more challenging locations, people soon started to rely on these roads to get where they wanted to go.
Nowadays, the motorways are a lot busier and travelling at certain times of the day and times of the year there will be lots of traffic on the motorways. Motorways, despite being fast roads are generally safe provided that everyone follows the rules of the road and pays attention to the motorway signage, however something that can happen on any road including the motorway is a vehicle breakdown – so what do you do if this happens whilst you are driving on the motorway?
Firstly, it is always better to try and reduce the chances of your car breaking down before you set off on your journey. Check things that are obvious such as the oil and water and make sure that you have enough fuel, as well as your tyres.
Checking the car over beforehand can help reduce the chances but this cannot eliminate everything and there is always a risk of the car breaking down on the motorway. If you start having difficulties when you are driving along the motorway, you should try to get off if possible and safely at the next exit. If not, you should move your car to the hard shoulder with your hazards on to alert other road users.
Make sure that you keep the hazards and side lights on to ensure that you are as visible as possible and exit the vehicle to get away from the traffic where you can then call for help from a breakdown company. A recovery vehicle will display chapter 8 chevrons like this https://www.vehiclechevrons.com/ which alerts other road users that they are able to stop on the motorway and ensures that they are visible, and they will then repair the vehicle there or will take you where you need to go and tow the car.
