what to do if car breaks down on road trip

If your car breaks down on the road, remember these iv critical steps!

Electric problems, engine problems, manual problems, tire issues - there are dozens of scenarios that can cause your vehicle to intermission down while you're on the road. When it happens to yous, it can exist difficult to concentrate with all of the possibilities running through your head. You may fifty-fifty find yourself immediately thinking of the price and hassle that goes along with repairing the problem.

But when your vehicle fails while you're driving, a hassle can quickly become unsafe if yous don't act quickly.  And then what should yous practice if your car breaks down? What steps can y'all follow to forestall a bad situation from becoming worse? If you lot find yourself in a declining vehicle on the road, retrieve and follow these four critical steps.

What to do if your car breaks down

"What was that noise?"

"What is thatsmell?""How much is this going to cost me?"

These are all valid and understandable questions that might run through your mind during a breakdown. But while you'll take to address those questions sooner rather than after, practice your all-time to focus on these steps first.

Step ane: Become out of harm's fashion

Regardless of what's going on with your machine, your first priority is ensuring you and your passengers are in the safest possible position.

Coast. Depending on what the malfunction is, you may only accept the momentum of your vehicle to carry y'all off the road, which can go out you with little time to act. Practise your all-time to steer towards the side of the road, or the shoulder, and park equally far from the road as you safely tin can.

When you've come to a stop, bending your wheels abroad from the road, and engage the emergency restriction.

Stay put. If you lot tin can't make it off of the route, don't exit the vehicle to button. Stay put and wait for help.

If you are able to bring the vehicle to a condom place, make certain you and your passengers get out through the passenger doors, or the doors opposite the road.

Notation your location. After you've stopped and engaged the emergency brake, make note of your relative location. Look for leave signs, mile markers, and intersections. You'll need this information when calling for help.

Pace 2: Brand you and your vehicle visible

Later on moving the vehicle to the safest possible identify, you'll need to make your vehicle visible to other drivers. Following these steps ensures that other drivers are aware of your situation and gives them ample opportunity to requite you the necessary space.

Hazard lights. Whether you're able to go your car off the route or non, turn on your car's hazard lights. This button is usually fairly easy to spot, but isn't e'er located in the same place. Expect for a big button with an orange or crimson triangle, sometimes in the center panel or on the steering cavalcade.

Fly a flag. In some cases, your hazard lights may not work or may not be bright enough to adequately signal other drivers. If y'all have some sort of brightly colored cloth, like a spare t-shirt or towel, you can signal your distress past tying it to the radio antenna or past closing it in the driver-side window or door.

Prop open your hood.Propping the hood of your car open can also act as a distress bespeak to other drivers.

Where a vest. If you have a brightly colored cogitating vest, make sure to put it on when you're outside the vehicle. Brand certain to proceed your ain visibility in heed and don't stand in a place where your ain vehicle might obstruct another driver's ability to see yous.

Cones, flares, and reflectors. If you have traffic cones, flares, or some other sort of emergency signaling device, you can place them about six feet backside your car to give drivers aplenty time to have note of your vehicle and react.

Remember, only exit the vehicle to open the hood or place signals if y'all are in a rubber enough position to do so.

If you don't regularly have something to signal distress on hand, these items are all necessary additions to a roadside emergency kit.

Step 3: Call for assist

Next, you'll need to phone call for assistance.

Call the law, or 911. When your car dies, it can be tempting to focus on calling a tow truck or roadside assistance. Still, depending on the state of affairs, you lot may need to call 911 get-go.

A vehicle blocking traffic at an intersection or in the center of the road is incredibly dangerous and can easily pb to a collision. For that reason, you'll want to make sure that emergency services are notified every bit before long as possible. When you lot speak to the dispatch operator, make sure to tell them that your car is blocking traffic so that they know to transport an officer to direct traffic immediately.

If you don't have roadside assistance, the police volition contact a towing company for you (at the owner's expense, of course). In whatsoever case, it is necessary to have an officer on site - hitching a vehicle to a tow truck in the middle of traffic is dangerous for the tow truck operator.

Call roadside help. Roadside assistance services tin can exist a lifesaver in a state of affairs such as this. Whether you have service through your insurance or a third-party company, they tin help you alter a tire, bring you a tank of gas, give y'all a jump, or provide towing services if necessary. Again, if you are stuck in the middle of the road, brand sure to give that data to the operator when you telephone call. If they know you're in an emergency state of affairs, they'll usually send a truck correct away.

Call a friend or family member. After you lot've contacted emergency services, contact a friend or family fellow member to let them know what's going on.

Don't flag other drivers. It can exist dangerous and distracting to flag downward other drivers, so avoid doing this at all costs. Wait on the police or your roadside assistance.

Step 4: Assess the problem

It is mostly recommended that yous avoid exiting the vehicle to assess the problem. Nevertheless, if you are far enough off the road and in a rubber position, leave through the passenger side door, or the door that is opposite the road. If you have the opportunity to requite your vehicle a quick inspection before help arrives, be on the lookout for symptoms in the following categories.

Sights. Did you come across anything out of the ordinary? Attempt to remember whatever warning lights on the dash that you may have seen flashing. Accept note of any aberrant readings that your gauges, such every bit the engine temperature, might be telling you.

Even an experienced mechanic may take problem diagnosing problems by sight on the side of the route, but there are obvious things you can look for if you're able to safely pop the hood. For example, if there are fluids coating your engine, if a belt is missing or out of identify, or if there are burn marks anywhere, accept pictures for future reference.

Sounds. Did you hear anything troubling? A popular, clang, bang, crisis, or any other sound that your vehicle shouldn't be making? While y'all may not be able to determine the exact source or cause, abnormal sounds can assist you narrow information technology down.

Smells.Sometimes an unusual smell tin can be a powerful diagnostic tool. The smell of burning oil or fluids might indicate an engine problem while the unmistakable smell of electrical systems burning can tell a unlike story.

Unfortunately, there typically isn't much you can practice to become your automobile back in working lodge on the side of the route. However, in some cases, you may simply demand to change a tire to get moving once again. If this is the case, never attempt to change a tire on the side of the vehicle facing the road. If yous are unable to position the vehicle in a safe direction, information technology'due south best to wait for aid.

After you've washed what you tin, make sure to jot this downwardly in a blank page in your automobile maintenance log while it'due south fresh in your mind, or keep a record in your phone. While in that location may non be an immediate solution bachelor to you lot, having this information on hand tin be helpful when assistance arrives, and may be of import in the future when your vehicle is beingness repaired.

How long can yous leave your auto on the side of the highway?

While no one wants to leave their car behind, sometimes you lot have no choice merely to practise and so. Maybe yous've got to get your kids home, or maybe the weather is bad plenty that waiting for a tow truck just isn't possible. So if y'all do accept to go out before you have a chance to tow your vehicle, how long are you allowed to let it stay at that place?

About of the time, you'll have 24 hours to take intendance of it, assuming that the vehicle isn't blocking traffic or obstructing the road. To requite yourself the best possible hazard that it won't be towed, call the law department's non-emergency line and inform them of your situation. Of course, that is not necessarily a guarantee, but it can't hurt.

Earlier you leave, make certain to take your valuables, appoint the emergency brake, and lock the car. If you take newspaper and a pen, it can't hurt to leave a note!

How can you prevent vehicle malfunctions and breakdowns?

The best way to prevent such a scenario is to keep up with your regular vehicle maintenance, and keep a record of the tasks y'all've performed in your motorcar maintenance log. Staying on top of your auto maintenance tin certainly be hard to fit into a decorated life, so keeping a record is essential.

This advice goes double if you lot're planning a road trip. Even if you are upwardly-to-engagement with your maintenance, make sure to check your fluids, tire pressure, and lights before a long road trip.

Being stranded on the side of the road isn't just an inconvenience - information technology tin be a unsafe state of affairs. Whether you're driving across town or across the state, Germania's Roadside Help Coverage is there to lend a helping hand when you lot need information technology most.

To acquire how y'all can add this optional coverage to your Germania personal automobile policy, or to learn more about our insurance products, call one of our trusted agents or asking a quote online today!

Upwards next: Having a reliable vehicle tin can assistance forestall breakdowns and unexpected problems. If you're shopping for a used vehicle, read our blog first and acquire what to check for!

casepappinging.blogspot.com

Source: https://germaniainsurance.com/blogs/post/germania-insurance-blog/2021/01/15/what-to-do-if-your-car-breaks-down-follow-these-4-critical-steps%21

Share this post