Safety guide

What to do if you
break down on the motorway

UK motorways — including smart motorways without a permanent hard shoulder — are the most dangerous place to break down. The five steps below are based on National Highways guidance. Read them now — even if you're not broken down — so the muscle memory is there if you ever need it.

1. 1

   Get off the carriageway — fast

   Hazard lights on immediately. Indicate left, slow down gradually, and pull as far left as you can.

   • If there's a hard shoulder (older motorways like most of the M6, A1(M), and stretches of the M1) — pull onto it, as far left as possible, wheels turned away from traffic.
   • On a smart motorway (no permanent hard shoulder — much of the M1, M25, M6 north of Birmingham) — aim for the next Emergency Refuge Area (ERA), service station, or motorway exit. ERAs are blue with an orange SOS phone, roughly every 1.5 miles.
   • If you make it to a hard shoulder or ERA, switch off the engine but keep hazard lights on.
2. 2

   Stuck in a live lane? Stay in the vehicle. Call 999.

   If you've stopped in a live running lane and you can't safely get to the left, the worst thing you can do is get out of the car.

   • Keep your seatbelt on.
   • Keep hazard lights on.
   • Call 999 — National Highways/police will use the overhead gantries to display a Red X above your lane and close it. Other drivers will move over.

   Stopping the lane saves lives. Don't try to flag drivers down. Don't try to fix the car. Wait for professional help.

3. 3

   Once you're safely off the carriageway — exit on the left

   • Get out using the nearside (left) doors — passenger side. Never the driver's side onto live traffic.
   • Stand behind the safety barrier, well away from your vehicle and the motorway.
   • Take any passengers with you. Animals stay in the car.
   • Wear a hi-vis if you have one. Don't wait for help inside the car — if it's hit, you don't want to be in it.
4. 4

   Use the orange SOS phone if signal is poor

   • Hard shoulders and ERAs have a free orange emergency telephone, marked with a blue/orange post.
   • It connects directly to the regional control room and tells them exactly which marker post you're at — useful even if you've got signal.
   • If you're using a mobile, the operator will ask for the nearest blue marker post number (every 100m) so they can pin your exact location.
5. 5

   Once you're safe — call Big Ben's

   Once you and your passengers are off the carriageway and behind the barrier, that's the time to call us. We'll come and recover the vehicle to a garage of your choice, your home, or a bodyshop.

   Call 07754 984 147 💬 WhatsApp us

   Voice not getting through? WhatsApp text and photos usually work even with weak signal on the hard shoulder — that's why we've put it next to the call button.