There are a number of reasons that all of us need to be extremely careful when we are forced to pull over or break down on the side of the road. People gets injured or even killed every single day.
We’d like to think that our car will never run out of gas or break down. And even if we did, we think we’ll stop near a gas station or a well lit group of friendly homes or right next to a tow truck. That is not always the case and it’s delusional to think that a) break down never happen and that b) help will be a moment away. We won’t and it won’t – so, be prepared.
PULL OVER, LIGHTS ON, MOVE AWAY, CALL FOR HELP
This is the safest and best strategy to employ – these four simple rules: if your car does break down get it as far off the road as possible, put all emergency lights on so that all traffic will be alerted to your presence, move you and your passengers away from the vehicle and call for help.
DO NOT COAST OR PUSH YOUR VEHICLE
It might seem like the easiest, cheapest way to get your vehicle to where it needs to be – it’s not. It is extremely dangerous to try and push/maneuver a vehicle along a road or highway. More than a few people have been crushed when their vehicles rolled into traffic or got away from them all together.
Coasting or pushing your vehicle to a station might seem practical. However, both of these can be very dangerous as controlling the vehicle when the engine is not running is much more difficult.
DON’T TAKE FOR GRANTED THAT OTHER DRIVERS ON THE ROAD SEE YOU
Do you have any idea how many people just assume that the other drivers just assume that they si them on the side of the road and will play along as far as keeping everyone safe. Those drivers are moving at 70, 80, 90 MPH, they are on the phone, they are talking to a passenger, they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, they ate texting or fixing their hair or in some way distracted; bottom line is that if you are idle on the side of the road or highway you are a small target to something moving very fast. This is so important, we’ll say it again:
DON’T TAKE FOR GRANTED THAT OTHER DRIVERS ON THE ROAD SEE YOU
Just assume that they don’t. Just assume that they have no idea you are there.
Assume the worst. Prepare for the best.
