When the car stops: where, who stands where, and the call

When a car stops on a road, the people around it are what's at risk, and much of the Highway Code's breakdown advice is about where they go, not what happens to the car.¹ (The Highway Code covers England, Scotland and Wales.) In the US, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, AAA's research charity, reports from the crash data of NHTSA, the US federal road safety regulator, that "more than 2,100 people were killed outside of disabled vehicles at the roadside in 2019-2023". Its count takes in roadside rescue and emergency workers, people who stopped to help, and "motorists who exited their own disabled vehicles".² The decisions that matter come early: where the car comes to rest, where the people go, and who gets called.

The callout carries the fast-road steps, and lesson 17, "Motorways and fast roads: go left, the live lane, and the smart motorway question", teaches them in full. This lesson is every other road, and what to do at an incident on any road. Where the two countries' advice differs it sits in a table, and you follow the advice for the road you're on. Several sections below state law. This is general information, not legal advice. The rules differ between England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and each US state, and they change.

The lesson uses UK road words, each with the US one: carriageway (roadway, the part traffic drives on), single carriageway (an undivided road), dual carriageway (a divided highway), lay-by (a pull-off beside the road), verge (the grass edge), hard shoulder (shoulder), boot (trunk), sidelights (parking lights) and level crossing (railroad crossing). An A-road is a main road with an A number. Distances are in metres with feet, as the Highway Code gives them, and in feet where a US source does.

Where to stop: a place of relative safety

The Highway Code's Rule 275 starts before the car has stopped. "If you need to stop your vehicle in the event of a breakdown or incident, try to stop in a place of relative safety. A place of relative safety is where you, your passengers and your vehicle are less likely to be at risk from moving traffic."¹ Then it ranks them:

• "The safest place to stop is a location which is designed for parking." (A car park, for instance.)
• "On motorways and other high-speed roads, the safest place to stop is a service area."
• "Other places of relative safety include" lay-bys, emergency areas and hard shoulders, and "Be aware that hard shoulders provide less protection than other places of relative safety because they are so close to high-speed traffic."¹

"Relative" is the word to hold on to: each of these is less likely to be at risk from moving traffic, not free of it. On an ordinary road the choice is usually between a lay-by, a car park, a side road or a wide verge a little further on, and a stop where the car died. Choosing is Yours, and the next sections are about making it well.

That's the mechanism behind most of this lesson: a stopped car can become a moving one without its driver, so where people stand matters as much as where the car is.

What causes the stops. National Highways, the government-owned company that runs England's motorways and major A roads, says its traffic officers deal with "more than 85,000 breakdowns" a year, and "Over 40 per cent of these are caused by vehicles running out of fuel, poor tyre maintenance, power loss and engine trouble."³ Its advice for the first of those is "Always keep your tank at least one quarter full to avoid running out of fuel."³ The next section has what it says about the law. The other three causes are the checks in lessons 7 to 11.

Rule 276 on an ordinary road, and which of it is law

This is general information, not legal advice.

Lesson 1, "What a car is made of, and why the handbook comes first", met the Highway Code's convention; here it decides a whole rule. The Code's Introduction: legal requirements are "identified by the use of the words 'MUST/MUST NOT'", with a reference to the law behind them, and the other rules are advice, which "may be used in evidence in any court proceedings under the Traffic Acts".⁴ That includes "rules which use advisory wording such as 'should/should not' or 'do/do not'".⁴ Rule 276 is the breakdown rule for every road. It opens "If your vehicle breaks down, think first of all other road users and", and none of its seven lines uses MUST:¹

So the 45 metres and the hazard lights when stopped are advice, not legal duties, and the Code can still be used in evidence about how you behaved. This course did not read whether the law requires a car in Great Britain to carry a triangle at all, and says nothing about it either way. Northern Ireland has its own Highway Code, on nidirect. Its breakdown rules are close to these but not the same, this lesson doesn't teach them, and a reader there follows that Code; 999 is the emergency number there too.

Hazard lights. There's a MUST nearby, in Rule 116, and it runs the other way. "These may be used when your vehicle is stationary, to warn that it is temporarily obstructing traffic. Never use them as an excuse for dangerous or illegal parking. You MUST NOT use hazard warning lights while driving or being towed unless you are on a motorway or unrestricted dual carriageway and you need to warn drivers behind you of a hazard or obstruction ahead."⁵ The rule cites regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989. So when you're stopped and in the way, hazards are advised; when you're moving, they're against the law except in that one case.

The triangle. Placing one is Yours, on conditions. The Code's conditions are an ordinary road, never a motorway, and "great care" in placing it. This course reads "great care" as a real condition, not a formality: carrying a triangle 45 metres back means walking along the road towards the traffic you're warning, and if there's no verge or pavement to walk on, the course's reading is that you leave it in the boot. No source read tells you to put it out at any cost.

Obstructions. If anything falls from a vehicle, Rule 280 separates the roads. On a motorway or other high-speed road, "DO NOT remove the obstruction yourself": stop in a place of relative safety and call 999. "On other roads, you should only remove obstructions if it is safe to do so."¹ So on an ordinary road, moving it is Yours, on conditions: not a high-speed road, and only if it's safe.

Running out of fuel. National Highways adds a line about the law: "You can be issued a Fixed Penalty Notice in some locations if your breakdown was foreseeable, which includes running out of fuel."³ That's National Highways' statement, with its own "in some locations"; this course did not read the law behind it and says no more about it.

An overheating car near Berwick-upon-Tweed

Now a case worked through. It's dusk on a single-carriageway A-road near Berwick-upon-Tweed. A driver and her teenage son are twenty minutes from home when the temperature warning light comes on, and a sign for a picnic-site car park appears a few hundred metres ahead.

Step 1: stop. Lesson 11, "Dashboard warning lights", put the coolant temperature light in its stop-now group: Ford's handbook and the RAC (which sells breakdown cover and repairs) both say stop. She has within sight the kind of place Rule 275 calls safest, one "designed for parking", so she pulls into the car park, well clear of the road, and stops. With no car park in sight, the light's stop-now meaning and Rule 275's "try to stop in a place of relative safety" would have pulled the same way: on this course's reading, the nearest place off the carriageway she could reach.

Step 2: lights. Rule 276 advises hazard lights "if your vehicle is causing an obstruction". In a car park, clear of the road, it is not, and the Code does not ask for them. It's dusk, and Rule 276's sidelights are for a car other road users need to see. In a car park that means anyone driving in, so on this course's reading they're worth having on, "if possible".

Step 3: the triangle. Rule 276 puts the triangle "on the road" behind the car, and says nothing about a car that is off the road altogether, in a car park. On this course's reading, the triangle does little here, and walking 45 metres back along an A-road at dusk has a cost of its own. It stays in the boot.

Step 4: people. Both get out and stand well away from the car and from the road, as Rule 275 advises. In a car park that also means away from where other cars drive in.

Step 5: the engine. She switches the engine off. Ford's handbook for the Maverick, in lesson 11, says it for that car's temperature light ("safely stop your vehicle and switch your vehicle off"), and her own handbook governs hers. Lesson 9, "Under the bonnet: oil, coolant, brake fluid and screenwash", covered the rest: the coolant cap stays shut until the engine "has cooled naturally", in Annex 6's words, and a hot cap is never opened.

Step 6: the call. Nobody is hurt, nothing is on fire and the car is off the road, so on this course's reading this is a call to a breakdown service, not to 999. What she tells them is in "The call, and where you are", below.

In the US: stopping, warning devices and Move Over

This is general information, not legal advice.

Stopping. AAA Club Alliance (AAA clubs are US motoring clubs that sell roadside assistance and run a repair network), in an interview with its fleet manager, gives its advice for "a highway or surface street": "pull over as far to the right as you're able and turn on your hazard lights."⁶ Then stay in, unless the shoulder is too narrow or there's a guardrail to wait behind; in those two cases the callout above says to get out on the side away from traffic, and that holds on every US road. AAA's reason for staying in otherwise: "Vehicles have airbags and side curtain bags. That along with your seat belt will protect you from serious injury if your disabled vehicle is struck by another vehicle". If you have to get out, having pulled onto the right shoulder, "exit the vehicle from the passenger side and wait beyond the protective guard rail, if one exists. A good rule of thumb is to remain at least 40 feet from your disabled vehicle."⁶ (40 feet is about 12 metres, on this course's conversion.) The California Driver Handbook lists the same two exceptions, a shoulder without enough space and a guardrail, among the situations in its freeway steps where it's safer to get out and stay away, and lesson 17 teaches them in full.

Warning devices. The federal rules on carrying and placing warning devices are those of FMCSA (the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates trucks and buses), and they're for commercial motor vehicles only. Under its general rule, 49 CFR 392.22 has a driver of a stopped truck or bus place them "as soon as possible, but in any event within 10 minutes": one about 10 feet (3 metres) and one about 100 feet (30 metres) back towards the approaching traffic, and one about 100 feet the other way. 49 CFR 393.95(f) requires "Three bidirectional emergency reflective triangles" or "At least 6 fusees" (road flares).⁷ The rule has other placements for divided roads, curves and hills. They don't apply to a private car, and this course found no federal rule for one and read no state's rule on it. So a US private driver's question about triangles goes to their own state. AAA Club Alliance's kit list includes "flares, orange triangles" among other things,⁶ and that is advice from a club that sells roadside assistance and runs a repair network.

Move Over. This is the US law aimed at the drivers going past. NHTSA: "For the safety of everyone on and off the road, all 50 states have Move Over laws", and "All states require drivers to move over and slow down for emergency vehicles with flashing lights."⁸ Some states go further, as California did from 1 January 2026. Its Vehicle Code § 21809 now covers "any other stationary vehicle displaying flashing hazard lights or another warning device, including, but not limited to, cones, flares, or retroreflective devices": passing drivers must change lanes "if practicable" or "slow to a reasonable and prudent speed", and "A violation of subdivision (a) is an infraction, punishable by a fine of not more than fifty dollars ($50)."⁹ It does not apply where the stopped vehicle "is not adjacent to the highway or is separated from the highway by a protective physical barrier."⁹ So in California, a stopped driver's hazard lights or triangle now put a legal duty on the traffic coming up behind.

In Great Britain, the nearest rule this course read is Rule 281, for drivers approaching an incident: "You should slow down and be prepared to move safely into another lane or stop", which is advice, and "You MUST follow any directions given by police or traffic officers as to whether you can safely pass the incident or obstruction."¹

No source read gives a reason why the two countries' advice on staying in the car differs, and this course does not supply one. They agree on a live lane, which is lesson 17's.

A car stopped on a level crossing

This is general information, not legal advice.

At a level crossing the danger is a train, not other cars, and the steps change. Each country's are its own, and no source read gives a reason for the differences.

In Great Britain. The Highway Code's Rule 299 covers a breakdown or incident on a crossing. It says "should" and has no MUST, so it's advice:¹⁴

• "get everyone out of the vehicle and clear of the crossing immediately"
• "use a railway telephone if available to tell the signal operator. Follow the instructions you are given"
• "move the vehicle clear of the crossing if there is time before a train arrives. If the alarm sounds, or the amber light comes on, leave the vehicle and get clear of the crossing immediately."

In California. The state's official driver handbook has a section headed "Disabled Vehicles on Railroad Tracks", with two cases.¹¹ "If your vehicle stalls or stops while blocking part of a train track with a train approaching and warning lights flashing": "Immediately exit your vehicle. Run away from the tracks diagonally in the direction the train is coming from. Then call 911." And "If you do not see a train approaching and warning lights are not flashing": "Exit your vehicle. Dial the number located on the railroad crossing posts or metal control box near the tracks. Provide the crossing number (if posted). Tell them a vehicle is on the tracks. Then call 911."¹¹

They agree on the first thing: everyone out. After that, follow the steps for the country you're in.

A stalled car on a level crossing near Modesto, California

Say your car stalls on a crossing near Modesto. There's no train in sight and the lights aren't flashing. By the handbook's second case, you get out, find the number on the crossing post or the metal box by the tracks, call it with the crossing number if one is posted, tell them a vehicle is on the tracks, and then call 911. Now say the lights start flashing while you're still in the car. The first case takes over: get out at once, go away from the tracks diagonally in the direction the train is coming from, and call 911 from there. That is California's advice for California's crossings. The handbook does not say why diagonally towards the train, and this course does not add a reason.

The call, and where you are

Which number. In the US, 911.gov, the federal 911 programme's site: "An emergency is any situation that requires immediate assistance from the police, fire department or ambulance."¹⁰ In Great Britain, Rule 283 says to "contact the emergency services on 999" when you're involved in an incident or stop to help, and Rule 277 gives 999 for a car on a motorway whose people cannot get out of it safely, as does Rule 279 for a disabled driver who cannot follow those steps.¹ On this course's reading, a car that has simply stopped somewhere safe, with nobody hurt, is a call to a breakdown service. In the UK the AA, the RAC and Green Flag are breakdown providers that sell cover and repairs; in the US, AAA clubs sell roadside assistance and run a repair network. None is recommended here. Some roads have public services too, National Highways' traffic officers in England and the California Highway Patrol's Freeway Service Patrol, which "provides free emergency roadside services in certain areas" at commute times;¹¹ lesson 17 has both.

Where you are. An operator who can't find you can't send anything. The Highway Code's table, in Rule 277, is headed "Communicating your location. How to identify your location to the emergency services", and Rule 283 points to it for a motorway or other high-speed road:¹

eCall is the SOS button some cars have, which Rule 283 also names.

On a smaller road there may be no posts. First Aid and CPR lesson 2, "Danger, the call, and recognising cardiac arrest", gave the fallback for a place you don't know the name of: say what you can see, such as a shop name, a road you came in on or a landmark. For a car, this course's reading adds the road number, the direction you were heading and the last place you passed.

For the driver near Berwick-upon-Tweed, calling a breakdown service, that means the A-road's number, which way she was heading, the picnic-site car park and the last place she passed; then the car's make and model, that it isn't electric, and that the temperature light came on.

In the US, 911.gov lists what the call-taker may ask: "The location of the emergency, including the street address", "The phone number you are calling from" and "The nature of the emergency". It adds: "Be prepared to follow any instructions the call-taker gives you", and "Do not hang up until the call-taker instructs you to do so."¹⁰

For anyone who can't make a voice call, Rule 279 says, as advice: "If you are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired, it is recommended that you register for the 999 text service (emergencySMS.net) before making a journey."¹ This course did not read an official page on texting 911, and says nothing about it.

A driver on their own at the roadside may also be thinking about the people who stop. Threat from other people is Personal Safety's, in lesson 6, "Out and away: streets, travel and meeting people", which is about being out in general rather than breakdowns.

The recovery truck

Two things to tell a recovery service beyond where you are: the make and model, and whether it's electric or hybrid. Lesson 14, "High voltage: hybrid and EV safety, charging at home, fire and flood", said to tell them, and it changes the truck that comes.

The two makers read say their own electric cars mustn't be towed the ordinary way, and Tesla gives the reason for its car: "The motor(s) in Model 3 generates power when the wheels spin."¹³ Nissan, in its 2024 LEAF handbook for the US: "NISSAN recommends that your vehicle be towed with the driving (front) wheels off the ground or that the vehicle be placed on a flatbed truck as illustrated", and "Never tow with the front wheels on the ground or four wheels on the ground (forward or backward), as this may cause serious and expensive damage to the motor."¹² Tesla's Model 3 manual, as this course read it in an October 2024 archive copy: "Always transport Model 3 with all four tires off the ground."¹³ Those are two makers' instructions for their own cars. This course's reading is that telling the service what the car is lets it bring the right equipment and follow that maker's handbook. Towing an electric car is Call someone: Nissan's advice is to have "a service operator tow your vehicle", and it adds: "Never ride in a vehicle that is being towed."¹²

One more thing when the truck arrives, from the fleet manager of AAA Club Alliance, whose clubs sell roadside assistance and run a repair network, for the US: "A common mistake we see is drivers placing the vehicle into neutral to try and help the tow operator. This is highly dangerous because the vehicle isn't secured and can move at any time".⁶ No UK source read says it, but AAA's reason, that the car isn't secured and can move, holds for any car, so this course's reading is to leave it as it is until the operator says what they want.

After a collision: making the scene safe

This is general information, not legal advice.

Rule 283 is the Highway Code's list for anyone "involved in an incident or collision or stop to give assistance", and its vehicle-side steps are this course's to teach:¹

• "if possible, stop in a place of relative safety (see Rule 275)"
• "use your hazard warning lights to warn other traffic"
• "put on high-visibility clothing if you have it"
• "ask drivers to switch off their engines"
• "ask drivers and passengers to stop smoking"
• "contact the emergency services on 999 and provide full details of the incident location and any casualties"
• "move uninjured people away from the vehicles to a place of relative safety (see Rule 275)"
• "stay at the scene until the emergency services arrive"
• "be prepared to exchange details (see Rule 286)."

Every line is advice. The same list says "DO NOT move injured people from their vehicles unless they are in immediate danger". The Introduction marks a legal requirement with MUST or MUST NOT and a reference to the law behind it, and calls "do/do not" advisory wording. Rule 283 has neither, so its capitalised "DO NOT" is advice, not a MUST NOT.¹⁴ First Aid and CPR lesson 11 starts from the same place and names its own exceptions, for danger, the airway and CPR, and the casualty is First Aid's, not this course's. Rule 283 itself says "be prepared to give first aid".¹ That course has it: lesson 2, "Danger, the call, and recognising cardiac arrest", for the danger step and the call; lesson 7, "Breathing but not awake", for someone unresponsive who is breathing; lesson 9, "Severe bleeding and shock"; lesson 10, "Burns, cuts and small injuries"; and lesson 11, "Bones, joints, head and spine", for keeping an injured person still.

What the law requires after a collision. Rule 286 is a MUST. If you're in a collision "which causes damage or injury to any other person, vehicle, animal or property, you MUST" stop, give your name and address, the owner's, and the registration number "to anyone having reasonable grounds for requiring them", and if you don't give them at the time, "report it to the police as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any case within 24 hours."¹ The rule cites section 170 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. Insurance is Personal Finance Fundamentals lesson 8's, "Handing off what you cannot absorb".

Dangerous goods. Rule 284 says vehicles carrying dangerous goods in packages "will be marked with plain orange reflective plates", and road tankers carry hazard warning plates. Rule 285, as advice: "switch off engines and DO NOT SMOKE"; "keep well away from the vehicle and do not be tempted to try to rescue casualties as you yourself could become one"; and "call the emergency services and give as much information as possible about the labels and markings on the vehicle. DO NOT use a mobile phone close to a vehicle carrying flammable loads."¹

A collision on the A66

Now one to work yourself before you open the answer. On the A66 on a wet afternoon, a van and a car have collided a few hundred metres ahead of you. You stop in a lay-by. From there you can see the van has plain orange plates, something is running from it onto the road, and one person is sitting on the verge beside the car holding an arm.

What people get wrong

"A warning triangle is a legal requirement." Nothing this course read makes it one for a private car in either country, and in Great Britain placing one is advice; see "Rule 276 on an ordinary road, and which of it is law" and the US section's "Warning devices", above.

"A triangle goes behind any stopped car, motorway included." Rule 276: "never use them on motorways". Rule 277: "DO NOT place a warning triangle on the carriageway". Both are advice, and both say the same.

"Hazard lights are fine while you drive slowly." Not in Great Britain; see Rule 116 under "Rule 276 on an ordinary road, and which of it is law", above.

"Put it in neutral to help the tow truck." AAA Club Alliance's fleet manager (the club sells roadside assistance and runs a repair network) calls it "A common mistake": the car is not secured and can move.

"Get the injured person out of the car." Rule 283: "DO NOT move injured people from their vehicles unless they are in immediate danger." First Aid lesson 11 has the rest, including its own exceptions.

Practice

For your plan

Add a breakdown page to your car file, next to lesson 15's seasonal page: the numbers from the exercise, what's in the car and where, the three things to tell a recovery service, and the stopping places on your usual road. Lesson 17 adds the fast roads.

Connections

Lesson 11 gave the warning lights that start most of these stops, and lesson 9 the hot engine you don't open. Lesson 13, "A flat battery and jump-starting", sent the question of a jump start on the verge of a busy road here, and borrows lesson 19's wheel-change placement for the jump itself; lesson 14 said to tell the recovery service about an electric car. First Aid and CPR takes over for any casualty, and Personal Safety lesson 6 for threat from other people. Lesson 17 takes the same questions onto motorways and fast roads, and lesson 18, "A flat tyre: the decision, and spare, space saver, sealant or run-flat", starts from a stop like the ones here.

Go deeper

• The Highway Code, "Breakdowns and incidents", Rules 275 to 287, free. Read here in full. Short, and the one official text for Great Britain; read it once with the MUSTs marked.
• AAA Club Alliance, "The Key To Staying Safe When Your Car Breaks Down", free. Read here in full. A US club's fleet manager on staying in the car, and on the mistakes the trucks see. The club sells roadside assistance and runs a repair network.
• 911.gov, "Calling 911", free. Read here in full, from an archive copy. One page on what the call-taker needs.
• Your own handbook, its sections headed along the lines of "In case of emergency" and "Towing". Read them before you need them.

Sources

1. The Highway Code, "Breakdowns and incidents (275 to 287)", updated 14 September 2021. Great Britain. Read: full text, re-read 26 September 2026 through the GOV.UK content API.
2. AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAA's research charity), "Understanding the Circumstances of Roadside Fatalities", project page, April 2026. US. The figure is the Foundation's reading of NHTSA data, which this course did not read. Read: full page, re-read 26 September 2026.
3. National Highways, "How to check your vehicle". The government-owned company that runs England's motorways and major A roads. No date shown. Read: full text, re-read 26 September 2026.
4. The Highway Code, "Introduction", updated 1 July 2022. Great Britain. Read: full text, 26 September 2026, through the GOV.UK content API.
5. The Highway Code, "General rules, techniques and advice for all drivers and riders (103 to 158)", Rule 116, updated 17 September 2023. Great Britain. Read: full text of the page, re-read 26 September 2026. The regulation the rule cites was not read.
6. AAA Club Alliance (a US motoring club that sells roadside assistance; not an official body), "The Key To Staying Safe When Your Car Breaks Down", an interview with its fleet manager, 7 February 2022. Read: full text, re-read 26 September 2026.
7. US federal law, 49 CFR 392.22 and 49 CFR 393.95, FMCSA's rules for commercial motor vehicles. Read: 392.22 in full and 393.95(f), eCFR as of 1 September 2026, re-read 26 September 2026.
8. NHTSA, "Move Over: It's the Law". US. Read from Internet Archive capture 20260917235712 (nhtsa.gov refuses automated readers; the live page is linked). Read: full text, 26 September 2026. No page date.
9. California Legislature, Vehicle Code § 21809, as amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 58 (AB 390), effective 1 January 2026. California. Read: full section, re-read 26 September 2026.
10. 911.gov (the National 911 Program, within NHTSA), "Calling 911", last updated 24 January 2023. US. Read from Internet Archive capture 20260907153825, the newest there is (911.gov refuses automated readers; the live page is linked). Read: full text, 26 September 2026.
11. California DMV, California Driver Handbook, "Section 8: Safe Driving (Continued)". California's official driver handbook. No date shown. Read: full section, re-read 26 September 2026.
12. Nissan North America, 2024 LEAF Owner's Manual and Maintenance Information (US market), PDF. Read for this lesson: pp. 6-13 to 6-14 ("Towing your vehicle", "Towing recommended by NISSAN"), 26 September 2026. A maker's handbook for its own car. Nissan UK's online LEAF manual, which this course's research read, returned an error on every page on 26 September 2026, so the US handbook is cited.
13. Tesla, Model 3 Owner's Manual (UK English), "Instructions for Transporters". Read from Internet Archive capture 20241004175445, the only one there is (tesla.com refuses automated readers; the live page is linked and may have changed since). Read: full section, re-read 26 September 2026. A maker's manual for its own car.
14. The Highway Code, "Road works, level crossings and tramways (288 to 307)", Rule 299, updated 14 September 2021. Great Britain. Read: full text of Rule 299, 26 September 2026, through the GOV.UK content API.