Your car breaks down in the outside lane….

Just read this tragic story:

A woman has been killed after getting out of her car on a motorway and being hit by an HGV.

Police said it is believed the woman, 24, was in a Ford Fiesta when she had a minor collision with the central reservation of the motorway, rendering the car immovable.

When she got out of the car to check the damage she was hit by the lorry. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

– https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/04/woman-killed-by-hgv-on-m61-after-getting-out-of-her-car

I was wondering what I would do in this situation, and honestly not sure what the correct answer is. You’re in the fast lane, your car ain’t moving. So what do you do? Alert traffic? Stay in the central reservation? Leg across several lanes of traffic to the hard shoulder and hope someone doesn’t pile into the back of your vehicle?

Leave the car and get at least 75yds up the central reservation so my car plus some empty road acts as a barrier between me and the other traffic.

Not try and cross live lanes.

Leg across several lanes of traffic to the hard shoulder and hope someone doesn’t pile into the back of your vehicle.

This would be my plan, but it still isn’t a good one. Getting the other side of the central reservation crash barrier would be plan B, but isn’t great if your stationary vehicle causes a mass pile-up and vehicles start crossing the reservation.

No easy answer to that one. But you’re far more likely to die or be seriously injured if you stay in the vehicle, I would have thought.

It is tragic. But…. how on earth do you manage to have ‘a minor collision with the central reservation of the motorway, rendering the car immovable.’? 😯

The outside lane is a very dangerous place to find yourself in a static position. I’d probably get right up against the central reservation, wait for a gap and leg it.

Be bloody risky but what other choice is there…

But…. how on earth do you manage to have ‘a minor collision with the central reservation of the motorway, rendering the car immovable.’?

Depends on your definition of minor, but I guess buckling the front wing against the wheel would pretty much cover it.

the new concrete central barriers do not provide a central refuge as the twin arco’s used to. If I could, Id like to think Id grab my phone and leg it upstream sufficiently far, staying close to the barrier if concrete (or inside arco if metal) and indicate to outside lane drivers to slow down for the obstruction.

It is tragic. But…. how on earth do you manage to have ‘a minor collision with the central reservation of the motorway, rendering the car immovable.’?

Aquaplaning, crosswinds, texting, changing track on the CD, answering a call, tosser pulling into your lane in front of you (or next to you!)

Lots of ways.

according to BBC, it was at 3.30 in the morning, so i’m hazarding a guess it wasn’t that busy…

what was the HGV doing near the outside lane?

HGV shouldn’t be in the outside lane, although I appreciate it may have swerved to avoid other traffic.

As above get out and as far up the road as you can would be plan A.

When I was rear-ended by a car in the outside lane (his car immovable) I drove to hard shoulder before getting out, then as traffic had slowed to a standstill put my warning triangle out 100m before his car.

Horrible and tragic.
As Stoner says – leg it up the road and indicate with flapping arms to slow down. Only if very, very quiet would I attempt the crossing.

I was in the outside lane when my car started emitting smoke from the airvents. Even with the loss of power (blown gasket), it gave me enough time to put the hazards on and get to the hard shoulder. I do remember it being a bit dicy to switch lanes with a car losing power.

Pretty horrible way for it to end for the poor lady.

If it were me. Hazards on, get out into the central reservation, make my way across to the hard shoulder if possible and call 999.

I wonder if modern cars are safe enough for the passenger to survive if they were rear ended at 70mph while stationary. Could you sit tight and wait if there’s no alternative?

Horrible story, I’ve often moaned at people who manage to get their cars stricken on the motorway, I’ve managed to keep moving with blown tyres and engine failure, but if you hit the reservation hard enough I guess you’re going no-where.

It would have to be a case by case basis. The central reservation looks a good bet, but it’s a flexible barrier to absorb impacts, if you’re stood between two bits in the centre only a small gap apart and someone hits it, you’re dead. In your car with the belt on might be better. Running across the carriageway would be least favourite though, the car would have to be on fire or something. You would hope that people would stop if you made enough fuss, there’s no good solution.

The best bet is ALWAYS to try to keep the car moving IMHO, I see people stopped in lane 1 with a flat tyre, or smoking engine, or after a small crash – sod that – I’d have the hazards one, horn on and aiming for the hard shoulder with as much control as possible, I think some people are too worried about causing more damage to their car, it’s only metal and plastic.

The chances of any stationary object in the outside lane getting hit are very high. I wouldn’t sit in and wait. I wouldn’t sit in and wait on the hard shoulder either.

My scabby van suddenly died on the outside lane of a very busy M6 – I edged into the central reservation as far as poss. rang the police and sat tight (& crapped myself) til I got rescued.

I believe highways agency recommend you don’t bother with warning triangles on a motorway as its putting yourself at risk to set it out. Staying in the vehicle is the last resort, getting to the central reservation and away from the car is one better. Safest place is the hard shoulder and as far from the carriageway as possible, but you must be very very very careful to try and get there. It is helpful to have highviz stuff and a torch easily accessible from inside the car, may just make the difference.

It is helpful to have highviz stuff and a torch easily accessible from inside the car, may just make the difference.

Good advice.

At a guess she probably ended up with the driver side against the barriers, car not moving due to bodywork on wheel, ripped tyre etc, and climbed out of the passenger side this putting her in the way of the HGV in the middle lane.

I was in the outside lane when my car started emitting smoke from the airvents. Even with the loss of power (blown gasket), it gave me enough time to put the hazards on and get to the hard shoulder. I do remember it being a bit dicy to switch lanes with a car losing power.

Yeah I’ve had something similar on a busy motorway – my front nearside tyre shredded and disappeared down the road. Put my hazards on and a couple of wagon drivers realised what was going on, and hung back and “protected” me while I got across to Lane 1.

It was the M60 at rush hour with road works – no hard shoulder just a concrete barrier. I limped 2 miles to Birch Services driving on the rim at 20mph.

In the case of the woman in the article (RIP), I wonder if she’d stuffed the driver’s door in the collision, so got out of the passenger side into the path of the wagon in Lane 2.

At a guess she probably ended up with the driver side against the barriers, car not moving due to bodywork on wheel, ripped tyre etc, and climbed out of the passenger side this putting her in the way of the HGV in the middle lane.

Beat me to it. But yeah – this.

My scabby van suddenly died on the outside lane of a very busy M6

From similar experience, scary but possibly safer when the road is busy? Everything slows down and drivers can anticipate the hazard better from what other drivers are doing.

From the BBC:

Safety guidelines from Highways England advises drivers not to leave your vehicle in the event of being stuck in a “live” lane.

I know it might be wrong, but I really don’t think I would want to sit in my vehicle shitting myself.

At a guess she probably ended up with the driver side against the barriers, car not moving due to bodywork on wheel, ripped tyre etc, and climbed out of the passenger side this putting her in the way of the HGV in the middle lane.

Motorway lanes are incredibly wide (3 car widths at least), if she was entangled with the central reservation I think more likely she miss judged how far it was to the hard shoulder and the lorry didn’t see her in the dark?

Dipped headlights only show up the stopping distance from 30mph, so unless you’re illuminated or wearing high vis you don’t stand a chance.

and climbed out of the passenger side this putting her in the way of the HGV in the middle lane.

It’s possible, but the minimum width of a UK motorway lane is apparently 3.65m. Given that a Ford Fiesta is less than 2m wide, that’s a lot of space, even assuming the motorway had a narrow central reservation so the barrier was right up against the edge of the lane

However it happened, it must be a horrible situation to be in.

It is helpful to have highviz stuff and a torch easily accessible from inside the car

Good advice. I’ve often thought about bodging a magnet to a bright rear bike light, so in the case of a breakdown I can stick it to the back of the car as I’m heading for the verge. A flashing red light stuck to the roof or the open boot might help grab attention, would it just be extra risk though, like setting up the triangle (which I really don’t see the point of. Too small, low and dim to do much IMO)?

Not always possible, but I’ve always planned to attempt to drift off the motorway if the car conks out. I see so many people, more so on A roads admittedly, who when their car is stuttering and clearly about to stop, they just sit there trying to coax it forward instead of getting off the road quick. Result, if not an accident, is massive tailback.

Situation here may be different though. A crunch which just stops the car, then yeah, get the hell out of there. 3.30 in the morning must be clear enough to do so. But not get out to inspect the damage! Nearest phone fast.

As said above about the width of motorway lanes the alternative is to jam the car up against the reservation barrier as much as possible, and either stay inside and pray or try to get ahead of it enough that it won’t hit you if someone rams into the back of it. Central reservation with two barriers and middle then hop over between the barriers. I suspect though that she hit the reservation and let it come to a stop in the middle of the lane, getting out and hit by HGV in the middle lane.

Tragic news.

I guess I would try to safely exit the vehicle after putting hazards on, get to the central reservation and head back towards where I had come from (rather than direction heading, where someone could hit stationary vehicle and send bits of it in my direction). Phone 999 ASAP as walking away.

Motorway lanes are incredibly wide (3 car widths at least)

eh?

A UK motorway lane is 3.65m wide. You could just get 2 fiestas side by side if you were swapping paint AND had already lost the wing mirrors.

A truck will be about 2.5m wide so about 2 ft each side to the markers assuming it’s in the middle of the lane and if a truck is in the middle lane it’s normally sat doing about 0.5mph faster than the truck on the 1st lane so will probably be out towards the outside lane for clearance.

It may not have been right up against the barrier but just with sufficient damage to stop her getting out of the driver side or she might have spun. Seen plenty of cars facing the wrong way after hitting the central reservation.

Plenty of examples of people getting out of cars on the hard shoulder getting taken out by trucks. They don’t always stay in their lanes, especially at 3.30 in the morning.

I don’t think ive ever been on a motorway in this country with lanes as wide as they look above!

Probably won’t have helped that section of the M61 is not lit up either. Poor lady and wagon driver also.

wwaswas suggestion by far the best, although in this case I guess others are correct that she probably couldn’t exit from the driver’s side. Don’t get why you would exit to the central reservation and head back into oncoming traffic – that’s where any resultant accident / impact will happen.

I don’t think ive ever been on a motorway in this country with lanes as wide as they look above!

Some basic pixel counting in Paint puts the lane at 3.6m wide, between the edges of each white lines, given the car is 1.722m wide (from here).

If that’s right (and it might not be), then the lane is the minimum width. So actually every motorway you’ve ever been on has probably had lanes that wide. Unless I’ve got my pixel counting wrong, in which case it might be 5m wide, but it looks to me like a bit less than double the width of the car,including mirrors. Which would make it about the minimum width.

My windscreen wiper motor packed up in torrential rain on a duel carriageway. Fortunately, everyone had slowed down to about 50 due to lack of visibility and I was able to drift, blind, across to the inside, praying hard. Unfortunately, there was no hard shoulder and I borked both nearside wheels on the bouldery verge.

The above advice from Highways England to stay in the car is surprising. In most circumstances, it is far safer to get out, over the barrier and far enough upstream for oncoming drivers not to wipe you out when they react to your vehicle’s presence. Secondary collisions from passing traffic are a far greater hazard than the initial breakdown / barrier strike.

Only in very heavy slow moving traffic or if trapped / disabled would it be safer to stay put.

The car will provide some protection. Also, nowadays you’re likely to be picked up by cameras or technology built into the surface of the road; Gantries etc will then warn on-coming drivers.

user-removed – I had the same effect happen to me on the M1 in torrential rain. The driver side wiper just stopped moving. I had only passed my test a few weeks earlier – was bloody terrifying!

Rachel

By “upstream” do people mean run in the same direction as the traffic is moving in that lance or the opposite, towards traffic?

If it was me and I had to leave the car, I’d definitely run in the SAME direction of the traffic in that lane – the car is your barrier then, at least a little bit.

Or conversely the car is the projectile that takes you out when it gets shunted towards you?

Or conversely the car is the projectile that takes you out when it gets shunted towards you?

Yes. I know someone who was killed on the hard shoulder this way.

I’d go towards the traffic for 2 reasons:

1 – I don’t want any projectiles from an impact coming my way.
2 – I would also flap an arm whilst running to signal to drivers to slow down to reduce the chance of a crash.

I’d get out and get over the barrier onto the central reservation, then move towards the oncoming traffic – partially to wave my arms around a bit to warn them, but mostly to make sure that if someone did hit my car, it didn’t send it in my direction (further down the road).

Lord only knows if this is right, and if I’d be able to think it through in a real event, though!