Motorway rules
Your car breaks down on a motorway. What is the safest thing to do after stopping on the hard shoulder?
- Stay in your car with your seatbelt on and wait
- Stand in front of your car to warn other drivers
- Leave the car by the left-hand door and wait behind the safety barrierCorrect
- Try to repair the fault yourself in the running lane
Why?
The hard shoulder is only for emergencies, and traffic passes very close at high speed, so it is dangerous to stay in the car. Rule 275 of The Highway Code says you should leave by the left-hand doors, away from traffic, and wait behind the barrier on the embankment or another place of relative safety.
Highway Code rules 275, 276