Teen Driving: What to do When Your Car Breaks Down

There is nothing worse than having your car breakdown on the road. Not only does it make you unable to get to your destination as planned, but it’s also very scary. This is especially true for teenagers. Many don’t know the proper way to react to such an occurrence. Check out some tips for teenagers on what to do when your car breaks down:

1. Get Your Car Off the Road

As soon as you notice that your car isn’t working right, pull over to the side of the road. Remember, most vehicles don’t just stop working altogether. Instead, you usually have a short timeframe where you can drive your car safely off the road. Then, once you get to the side of the road, make sure you put your car in park. Then, flip on the emergency brake and turn your steering wheel in the opposite direction of the road. All these steps will help prevent your car from rolling out into the traffic. You should always put your hazard lights on too. This will alert the other drivers that you are experiencing car issues.

2. Call for Help

Thankfully in today’s society, practically every teenager has a working cell phone. That means when your car stops working, it’s time to pick up your phone and call for help. This can be a roadside assistance business like OnStar FMV or AAA or a local towing company such as Mike’s Auto Towing. Either way, these are qualified individuals who can talk you through your situation and offer advice on what to do next. They will know how to fix this issue so that you remain safe.

Depending on the severity of the situation of when you are pulled over, you might also consider calling the state highway patrol. They will help keep you safe and get you back on the road as soon as possible. Their emergency lights can help slow down oncoming traffic as well and help create safer surroundings. Once you have sent for help, the best thing you can do at this point is get back in your car and wait. Waiting inside of the car is the safest place you can be rather than standing next to it on the side of the road.

3. Let Other Drivers Know Your Experiencing Car Trouble

As mentioned earlier, you want to let the other drivers know that you are dealing with car trouble. Putting on your hazard lights are definitely the first step, but that’s usually not enough to fully get the point across. For instance, you could have simply pulled over to make a phone call. Instead, if you can, get out of the car and put down some road flares. You should put a few of these roughly 50 feet behind your vehicle. Besides this, you should raise the hood of your car and leave it up until help arrives.

Unfortunately when many teenagers experience car trouble, they don’t know how to react. Instead of making the right and safe move, they act foolishly. Car trouble is not something to take lightly. However, with these tips in mind, teenagers will be in good hands when the unexpected happens.