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

[LifeSurvior]

My daughter broke down on the M62, massive fog, shite weather, she pulled over to the hard shoulder. Phoned me, I told her to phone RAC, she's a member, no worries, sit tight and wait for them.
She also phoned her Dad and he told her to get out and flag cars down to help her, do not stay in the car..
I'm furious he didn't see the harm he could have put her in..
I know staying on the hard shoulder is a risk but trusting bloody any fucker that happened to stop and pretend to help is surely more risk.
He thinks I'm paranoid.

Staying in the car in that fog was probably less safe. Someone could have gone into the back of her. That said I wouldnt have flagged anyone down either!

She absolutely must get out of the car - sitting in a car on the hard shoulder is horrifically dangerous. I wouldn’t advocate flagging down cars, but everyone knows you don’t sit in a car on the hard shoulder, surely?

She should follow official advice, no-one else’s.

Easy to forget in a panic though.

Your right she should phone the RAC but no way should she stay in her car
he was right she should get out but realistically put the risk aside it’s highly unlikely someone she flagged down would be able to fix her car so it would be pointless

She should have followed the official advise which is getting out the car and get as far away from the road as possible i.e up the embankment etc.

I'm surprised the RAC didn't tell her this on the phone.

As shit as it is, you should not stay in your car in the hard shoulder.

The only vehicles coming to her aid should be either emergency services or RAC/AA/Greenflag etc.

By the time someone on the motorway sees her flagging them down, they will still be driving by too fast to pull over anyway.

What is the official advice?

You must not stay in the car in the hard shoulder under any circumstances. You get back, behind the barrier, nearer to the incoming traffic than the broken down vehicle. No matter how cold you get.

I have no views really on flagging down passing vehicles but I suspect it's lower risk than staying in a car on a foggy motorway.

She shouldn’t stay in the vehicle, but she shouldn’t really be flagging down cars either.

She should absolutely not be sat in the car on the hard shoulder! She should have got out (passenger side, climbed over the barrier and waited as far back as she could. Telling her to try and flag down cars or to stay sat in the car are both ridiculous bits of advice.

Staying in the car on the hard shoulder in fog is awful advice. Flagging down cars is also risky, but I'd guess the risks are far less.

Wasn't it possible to exit the car and wait at a safe distance on the other side of the barrier?

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/driving-advice/what-to-do-if-you-break-down-on-the-motorway/

RAC advice here. You (obviously) get out of the car and get behind the safety barrier. Especially so in fog.

her father has experienced life with the protection of being male. He doesn’t go into new every situation with at least a small thought towards personal safety.

It’s a case of assessing risk really, sitting in a car in foggy conditions with vehicles thundering past horrific level of risk. Trying to flag down one of said thundering vehicles high risk especially in foggy conditions. Chance of rapist happening to drive past at any given time, despite my distrust of men in general, and pulling over and attacking a woman sitting behind the barrier considerably less I would suggest. I think I read somewhere to sit behind the barrier but close enough to your vehicle to get back in if absolutely necessary.

Did your daughter get home safely @LifeSurvior ?

There was a horrific accident on the M62 near jct 22 today.

I'm sure that's really comforting to the OP

She should have got out of the car and stood behind the barrier.

Both bad advice.

It's put in hazard lights, exit car and stand behind barrier.

Both the other options could have easily gotten her killed.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/uk-drivers-are-puting-themselves-in-danger-during-motorway-breakdowns/

Just in case the message hasn’t landed hard enough…..

I'm going to add a caveat here, but only because I've had to do it. You get out of your car, and behind the barrier, as far as possible. However, if you see some bloke pull up behind you, make a song and dance of kicking his tyres then head towards you, then I'm afraid get back in the car, lock your door and put your seatbelt on. That way if something hits you, at least you are belted in. And then you tell him through the window to get lost as the AA/RAC are on their way. Because, aside from this specific case with fog, the only way that bloke has time to see you and pull up behind you is probably cause he saw you going the other way, went to the next junction and looped around. Which means there's a fairly high chance he's trouble.

Edited to add, yes, you are definitely right to be angry at the advice to flag someone down! Flagging down could cause a crash, or attract a pervert!

The hard shoulder is the most dangerous place to be on the motorway - 8% of crashes happen on it.

The first thing you should do leave your car and get behind the crash barrier at the far side of the hard shoulder. Always make sure you have a blanket, hi vis vest and torch in your boot to make this bearable!

Never, ever flag down motorists on a motorway - that is the worst advice I've ever heard! It's dangerous for both the flagger and the flaggee!

Calling the RAC was absolutely the right move and the only option in your daughter's case.

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.

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.

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 never stay in the car

I wouldn’t flag down others though