AIBU to be angry he told her to flag down cars?

I suspect when RAC said to her “sit tight” they didn’t mean sitting in the car, they meant : wait for us and we will come.
Hope your daughter got home safely, OP.

She should definitely get out of the car and move away from the hard shoulder. She should also contact the RAC and tell them that she is a lone female.
No she should not flag down random drivers..

I voted for that as I thought definitely not flag down (as per title)... then couldn't take off when realised she was meaning to stay in the car, which is bonkers.

I can’t vite as you both have her terrible advice. Staying in the car on the hard shoulder is dangerous on its own but in foggy conditions with poor visibility that could be very dangerous. As for flagging down cars I’m with you there. Absolutely no way I’d be doing that now let alone as a young girl.

Yeah you’re both guilty of giving her rubbish instructions. You get out and walk up the slope and wait there.

you do not sit in the car on the hard shoulder, you are a sitting duck if someone loses control/any loss of attention

@Cosmication cars get hit because large parts of the M62 are a smart motorway so the hard shoulder is an open lane. That’s why it’s ridiculously dangerous to stay in your car and the likelihood of an accident is higher than other motorways. The gantry’s are meant to indicate when there’s a car on it and close the lane but they aren’t always accurate.
Crazy advice to both stay in your car and flag down other drivers, that would cause an accident. As PP’s say get behind the barrier and up the embankment and wait for help.

It's a tiny proportion, true. But that tiny proportion is for more likely to stop than the average person and with 1000s of vehicles passing even .001% won’t round out to zero

You never stay in the car! Climb up the embankment/go on the other side of the barrier or whatever the layout is.

I can’t believe you advised her to sit in the car! That’s really bad advice. I thought everyone knew that you don’t stay in the car.

This. You're supposed to get out.

If she did flag someone one down and they decided to stop they’d be a couple of hundred metres up the motorway anyway, and then have to walk back her down the hard shoulder in the fog. And if she’s broken down what help does he think they’ll be able to give? Are they going to be a random mechanic with all their tools and kit with them? If not, then what else can they do for her?

Advising her to ‘sit tight’ was by far the most dangerous thing anybody did in that situation

I was always told to get out of the vehicle, over the barrier and contact highways to assist. Their patrols can be with you quite quickly and can offer foil blankets and and cone the area with lights. They can also speak to your recovery and advise if your car is deemed to be in an unsafe position.

always carry a good big coat in the boot, and ideally a foil blanket. You always think it will never happen to you until it does.

I think it's because drivers are mainly on autopilot. If they see a car in a left-hand lane ahead of them, sometimes they switch into that land in autopilot. Then they don't notice that that car was stationary and don't have time to stop. I think it's pretty unlikely for each individual car but the problem is you probably have a car passing you every 5-10 seconds and it only takes one of those to be distracted for a crash to happen.

Why do cars get hit on the hard shoulder? Vehicles aren't regularly veering off the road at random. Is it because sometimes another vehicle that needs to use the hard shoulder and they can't slow down quick enough to avoid hitting whoever is already on there?

I agree with you

As much as trying to flag down passing drivers is a ridiculous idea, the thought process that it's a personal safety risk is even more comical. Just what proportion of motorists (presumably you're only considering male ones) do you think pose a safety risk to a lone female?

You're both wrong
she shouldn't stay in the car but flagging down passers by on the motorway is wrong too. Nobody is correct. What did she do out of interest?

You are both unreasonable. You don't stay in the car. And I'm not sure what stopping a car would achieve, a random driver won't fix her car.

I'm staggered at the vote.

How can 67% of people think the OP was NOT being unreasonable to tell her dd to sit tight ?

The comments are all giving the correct advice - to get out of the vehicle as quickly as you can (preferably via the passenger door) and get yourself over the barrier and up the embankment if possible. Also aiming to be behind your car rather than in front of it so you don't get hit by it when someone slams into it if it damages the crash barrier.

She shouldn’t be trying to flag down anyone but staying in the car is putting her at a much higher risk, she should initially get over the barrier (with the only car wise priority is taking her jacket) then phone rac, don’t try and flag anyone down and definitely don’t stay in the car

Far, far too many people are killed sitting in their cars on hard shoulders, and that's even without the fog. Out of the car and as far over the barrier/up the embankment as possible. Though flagging people down would be insane.

You never stay in the car

I wouldn’t flag down others though

National Highways says to contact them and the recovery services if you breakdown after you’ve exited your vehicle. That’s a number that people should put in their mobile phones.

My dad had a young, trainee mechanic working for him many years ago. One Saturday afternoon he broke down on the motorway. He didn’t get out of his vehicle which was struck from behind, on the hard shoulder, by an HGV and he was killed instantly. Visibility was good, it was a sunny, clear day. Don’t ever stay in the car, it’s too dangerous.

You were right to tell her to phone RAC but completely wrong to tell her to sit tight OP.

Her dad was right to tell her to leave the car, but wrong to tell her to flag down others.

You're both wrong.

You should never ever stay in the car on the hard shoulder when you break down. You should also never be flagging cars down when help is already on the way, and super especially not on a motorway.