Motorways help us to get from A to B quickly and millions of us use the motorways all over the UK each year. Generally, the motorway is safe and as long as you follow the rules of the road, you are highly unlikely to have any problems.
However, something that can happen is a vehicle breakdown. When this happens anywhere it is not ideal, but on the motorway it is very important to know what to do in order to be safe in the event of the car breaking down, as the traffic on a motorway moves much faster.
Before you set off you can reduce your chances of your car breaking down in the first place. Before any long journey, or before going on the motorway checking your car is a good idea. Check for the obvious things, such as making sure that you have plenty of fuel, as well as under the bonnet – things like the oil supply in the car. You should also make sure that the tread on your car tyres are within legal limits and that there is no damage to the tyres.
Checking your car beforehand can help you to spot any issues that could have caused you to break down, but sometimes despite doing this it may be that something goes wrong and your car breaks down whilst you are on the motorway. If this is the case, then if possible, you should try to get off the motorway if it is safe to do so, at the next exit. If you are not able to do this, then use the hard shoulder and move your car there.
Once you are there, you should put your hazard lights on and in the dark you should also put the sidelights on so that you are visible. You and anyone else that is in the car should then get out of the car and move away to a safe bank away from traffic where you can phone for help.
A breakdown vehicle will come to you and will be displaying chapter 8 chevrons like this www.vehiclechevrons.com/ meaning that it is able to stop on the motorway (all vehicles that need to stop on highways in the UK will have these). They will then either repair the vehicle there for you or will be able to tow you home or to where you were heading.