Driving down the interstate, maybe your destination is a vacation, going home, an important work meeting, or the once in a life-time event. It seems that if your car is going to misbehave, it always happens at the worst time.

I recently hit a metal piece that that toppled off someone else’s car and that was the start of a real disaster. I never saw it, until it was too late. I didn’t know how to unlock the wheel that was under the back end of my truck. This was the worst place to learn how to do it. My truck was narrowly missed by two semis.  One clip of the side and things would have gone from crappy to unthinkable.

Accidents occur daily from material that is being left, lost, or tossed from other vehicles.

But maybe, our car is running up the miles and a hose or something else goes out. Maybe it is as simple as a deflated tire. One way or another, most drivers will find themselves on the side of the road a half dozen times in their driving careers.

But, just because you are on the side of the road, instead of driving down it, that doesn’t mean that accidents don’t still happen. The problem now, is that the accidents that do happen can be life threatening.

The first risk that we have when our car breaks down is anger.

You, me, and everyone I know gets totally angry when their cars break down. We get some angry that sometimes we are careless or we cause a bigger problem because we aren’t thinking properly.

Then, as if to make things worse, on average, less than half of the drivers are competent to know what is going on or even how to change a tire.

This is usually based on age. But not in all cases! The younger you are, the less comfortable you may be about changing a tire or fixing another problem.  This could also be argued along gender lines, but we won’t go there.

The first thing you should do is activate your flashers, once you’ve pulled over.

Allow others to see that your car and maybe you, are in some sort of dilemma. Expert notice that in some cases, where a secondary accident has occurred, the main cause is a lack of flashers from the car that is in distress.

Over the past few years, pedestrians, or those close to highways and roads were killed on average of 10% of all roadway fatalities. That translates to around 4,000 individuals.  Of those, 300 or more were killed while changing a tire or working on a stalled or broken down car.  This is a serious issue and one that could largely be avoided.

My mind says to fix the problem, my car, as soon as possible. But in some cases, that may not be the best idea. Thousands or hundreds of thousands of cars may be traveling on the road your car is broken down on. One person not paying close attention could cause a major problem.

If possible, move your vehicle to a off ramp or away from direct traffic.

If this is not possible, it may be a better idea to call a tow truck or emergency personal before trying to push your vehicle from heavy traffic. It may be a great idea to remain inside the vehicle with your seat belt on. If your car is hit, then you will be better protected.

A broken down vehicle is bad news all the way around. Keep the maintenance up on your cars and trucks. Avoid putting yourself in a worse position by not thinking clearly about the risks that you are taking. Plan ahead as much as possible. Have phone numbers of tow trucks, car repair shops, and emergency personal already programmed into your phone.  A few minutes of planning, could really save you time and injury.