So I'm currently broken down on the M40...how's your night going?

[MyGhastIsFlabbered]

It's freezing and I need a pee. It's going to be another half hour before breakdown recovery get here!

And we're home finally. My restless legs were kicking in majorly so the last 2 hours were torture. Good night all, I'm off to bed!

Another tip
make sure your breakdown cover includes relay
its £100 to upgrade and £4.50 a mile at the moment
lots of bank and insurance covers don’t have relay

Glad you’re home safely, OP. What a nightmare. Sorry about your Polo (I had one and loved it) and your weekend.

This is where a SheeWee comes in handy! I live in a city and don't drive, but if I did, I'd definitely have one in the car!

What is relay? I have the bank cover.

I’ve got a torch in the front of my car that has a seatbelt cutter in and can also be used as a beacon/flashing light. Oh and it has a hard end to break windows too.

Glad you are home OP, what a miserable night. @RocketNan ordered those too! Also looking at getting a car fire extinguisher. I used to live in Germany and law there requires that you carry one but that went out of date years ago. I remember reading about a car crash and a fire starting that was put out because a soldier usually stationed in Germany had a fire extinguisher in his car. We have much less stringent laws here about safety.

Relay is what gets you home from anywhere in the country free of charge
depending on your cover from the bank you might have it already
some banks and insurance companies only give you roadside with their product that won’t get you home all that will do is get you to the nearest garage if it can’t be fixed at the roadside

Glad you are now home with dh @MyGhastIsFlabbered , hope you are both cozy and fast asleep. What a shame about your weekend away, can you get it switched to another weekend?

And thanks to the other mnetters who have put some brilliant tips on this thread.

Ask the AA if you can also have a courtesy car for a couple of days. They let me have one for 3 days from a rental company as part of the onward travel policy as well as a taxi. Worth a try.

So glad you made it, what a terrible night and sorry to miss your trip!
Bit random, but about restless legs (I had it throughout my pregnancies and hated every minute! Turned out I had iron deficiency), I've read a really interesting article recently, which I hope will help.
https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2025/jan/21/restless-legs-syndrome-sleep-treatment?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Brambles though.

I feel I need that torch in my life (& in my car!)

Hope by the time you read this OP you have had a good period of sleep and good of you to let everyone know you got home.

As for restless legs, I think there is a song by Half Man Half Biscuit about them.

In a car park maybe, but on a Motorway?! God no. You need to be safely away from the car!

I know the time has passed but this is really dangerous advice for motorway breakdowns. If anything hits your car you'd be killed instantly. Better to get over the crash barrier, pee there and stay there.

Hope you and your dh are.ok this morning. I popped back on to see how you were doing.

Sorry you missed your weekend away.

Just been inspired to buy a sheewee and emergency kit for the car!

I've just ordered a torch/glass cutter etc for me and one for DD

It's always good to have prep in the car. I always have water ( lingering old stuff to put in radiator or window wash ) and small drinkable bottles. Foil blankets for us and kids. She wee. Head torch. Bought it off ebay mostly very cheap.

I see news of motorway closures and people being stuck in the car for hours and I feel a bit better. In snow / ice I have a cardboard box to rip up to get traction but that is hit and miss for working. Sometimes it just flys out under the wheel. A shovel feels like overkill for the times it snows in England.

What a pain, OP! Glad you're home.

One of the many very helpful life my dear dad taught me was always pay for the full relay service on breakdown cover. (And good advice if you have it in a packaged bank account to see if you can upgrade)

Update on my prep kit.

Thinkinf about it. I have just bought more of those seatbelt cutters / window breakers to have in each of the door pockets. Was thinking if there is an accident, and some of us are not conscious, we can’t pass it to others, so now will jave 4 in the car. Thanks to the tip from a pp, I have for the torch combo seat belt cutters.

Thank you everyone. Back home, rested and now having a cuppa in bed. I'm so glad this thread has been useful in prompting people to get safety kits for their car. I will also look at it once I've recovered from last night.

Re restless legs, I'm still trying different treatments for it (and periodic limb movement disorder which I'm also afflicted with). Nice to see half man half biscuit mentioned though!

That’s a bloody good point. I have just the one in the glove box. I’ll have to get some more.

I have restless legs when I’m lacking in iron too.

Glad you got home safely, OP.

We once spent a memorable night being taken home in a variety of recovery trucks - because they can't drive more than two or three hours at a time, Scotland to south of England. Best part of 12 hours it took. With two pre-schoolers....

Somewhat at a tangent but my AA renewal offer has almost doubled this year. Time for the yearly conversation about them saying l am a "valued customer of many years" yet charging me more than they would a new customer. 😱RAC can offer the same for less than half the price. Do they think I wouldn't check?