Every one of us has experienced our cars breaking down in the middle of the road. Well, it can be a challenging situation if you do not know much about how to handle such a situation. It can be a tricky situation, as you may not get the help of any mechanic nearby. In such a case, you would have to help yourself before you call for breakdown recovery in Reading.
Here are some tips and tricks you can handle a situation such as your car breaking down –
Try Not to Panic
It may be a simple leak in the tires or malfunctioning of any parts or the engine, but you need to stay calm. In a situation like a car breakdown, you would have to go through a lot of processes which is why you need to keep quiet. You can go through a breakdown recovery manual to get an idea of how all the things work. Panicking can make the situation worse than it is.
Turn on Your Hazard Lights
If your car breaks down during the night, turn your hazard lights. It will help you alert other vehicles passing by that your vehicle is stationary, and you cannot operate it at the moment. During the day time, it is smart to use a branch or a makeshift flag to mark that your car is non-functional to alert the other drivers.
Take every passenger out of the car.
It is one of the crucial things that you should be doing when you face a car breakdown. Take everyone out of the cars, including any pets, if there are any. When you are out on the road, make sure you are visible. You can do that but wear a high visibility jacket at night.
If it is out of your reach, leave it
Analyze whether you can fix the damage by yourself. If it is out of your reach, it is better to leave it for the expert. Step aside and call an expert to solve the problem. You can put yourself and the car in danger if you push yourself to fix the damage when you know you cannot.
Call for help in time
When you know that there is no way you can repair the damage of your car all by yourself, you need to call for help. Assess for yourself, how risky or worse the situation is, and call for help from any nearby garage or call the emergency service number given. Keep all the emergency numbers handy, so that you can make a call when you want. When calling the emergency, you will be asked for the breakdown membership number beside your full name, location, and cause of the breakdown. You only need to tell the breakdown membership number if you have a breakdown cover from a provider.
No matter how advanced and robust your car is, you might go through a car breakdown at any point. Thus, it is better that you take precautions beforehand. From your engine malfunctioning to a leaking tire, you have to keep yourself prepared for such breakdowns. You can keep – Jumper cables, emergency service info, a tire-pressure gauge, reflectors or flares, coolant, lug wrench, and much more in your car.