Breaking down on the motorway

[TickingAlongNicely]

On my Top 10 list of things I hope to never do again.

Rather a frustrating day. And now we are safely home a few What Ifs running through my head...

The clutch went. So I was going at 50 miles an hour and the car not fully undercontrol, on the slip road between two motorways. Fortunately a steep climb and a nice wide hard shoulder.

45 minutes waiting at the side of the road with the kids before the recovery vehicle, then 1hr15 at a service station for the mechanic to come and confirm that the car is completely dead. Then having to steer the car as it was towed home by the AA.

Most annoying thing was we were only a mile from our final motorway exit (we could practically see it!) but they had to take us to a service station 10 miles further on.

Definitely not an experience i want to repeat.

@Shimmyshimmyshimmy not necessary

Not necessary and plain rude.

Tickingalongnicely - I've not yet had this happen but I would hate it. At least it was daytime and you were rescued relatively quickly.

Awful op so how did you get home from services??

Be thankful there was somewhere to pull into

I had a puncture on a motorway once. My dad was in the car with me, he had cancer and we were just on our way home from the hospital. He was very weak, the green flag operator told us to get out of the car and stand on the grass bank but he couldn't do that.
Had to wait in the car with traffic screeching past inches away! The recovery man came with 10 minutes but it was still Scary stuff!

The thought of breaking down on a sheet motorway with no hard shoulder terrifies me.

Agreed but kind of get the point - as in what is the point of the post? You had a fairly normal and to be frank much better breakdown experience than many have. Just a bit of a none-post really.

I've done it once, it was horrendous and I hope to never repeat it.

I can't even remember why the car died. I just remember crawling up the bank (I'm short, it was steep!) to wait for the recovery vehicle. The motorway traffic was so loud and fast. The breakdown service were kind and rang me at 10 min intervals to check I was OK. I read my book & tried to relax. After all that I didn't even see the recovery guy arrive, he was practically at my feet before I noticed him 😆

If a post doesn't resonate with you, just scroll on by!

I'd be terrified OP, sounds like you handled it well.

@Jennyathemall it's a chat forum. People post about all sorts of mundane/ordinary things. There's nothing wrong with the thread.

Same boat 3 weeks before Christmas.. Me and adult dd sat contemplating who's Xmas gifts we could eat after 2 hours sat awaiting rescue!!

When I was a student I used to break down all the time. When I could afford it I bought a new reliable car and have kept that up ever since. There is nothing worse than the dread of breaking down.

I broke down on the m62 last year, in one of the spots with no hard shoulder. Easily the scariest experience of my life, followed by being towed off to the next junction attached to the AA van with a pole! Took them six hours to sort out getting me home.

This is my worst nightmare! What did you do?!

I had a tyre blowout on one of those smart motorways without a hard shoulder. I phoned the AA and they said they would get to me as quick as they could and that they would let traffic police know.

The police and the AA came very quickly but it was the scariest experience of my life.

Currently broken down in layby between France and Italy….awaiting tow truck. Just me and dog and a car full of Xmas gifts.

when I eventually get home (southern Italy) I never want this to happen again.

Sounds really scary. I’m glad that you are safe.

@Movingon2024 I hope that you are rescued soon.

I remember breaking down with my toddler 20 years ago. Smoke started billowing from under the bonnet luckily I managed to get across to the hard shoulder and the recovery was swift. It was a harrowing experience.

Glad you are OK.

Hope you are rescued soon!

Thanks for supportive messages. That was the point really... talking through something helps to process it.

Luckily my children (it was just me and them, DH was the other end of the country) are 11&13 and sensible.

The biggest bit of luck was we were supposed to do the journey yesterday evening but put it off as it was foggy and raining and stayed a night at my PILs.

Anyway... its done now. We are all safe and well. Hopefully the replacement car will be problem free... this was an 18yo car with 160k on it. It was going to die soon.

Sympathies OP. I broke down on the motorway the first time I ever drove on it, alone and in the pouring rain. My oil pump went and so my engine totally seized, car started to decelerate and I had to coast across lanes to get to the hard shoulder (thank God there was one). The recovery was fairly quick but then, like you, I had to sit and steer whilst they towed me off the motorway and then wait at a service station for another vehicle to drive my broken car and I all the way home.

I’d been so nervous to drive on the motorway, finally psyched myself up to do it and then that happened. Suffice to say I still hate motorways, even moreso now that I have children in the car with me!

Such a horrible experience and really scary. I always presumed you were assisted quickly when broken down on the motorway with children.

But happened to me earlier this year after hitting debris on the motorway. I had 4 children with me and my mother (3 of the children under 5). Called the AA and told 2 hour wait. I advised I didn't feel safe due to having 2 x toddlers with us. Was advised to call the police which I did. After 1 and half hours wait on the hard shoulder clinging to 2 toddlers (luckily I had their reins with me) and 2 older children the highways agency arrived. I had to beg him in tears to take the younger children off the motorway. He did eventually agree to take the youngest 3 and my mum off the motorway leaving me waiting for another hour for the recovery truck with the 10 year old. Then a further 2.5 hour wait at a small services (garage and Mc Ds only) for the repair truck to come.

That's horrible @Donimo. We were told priority recovery was an hour!