While the best practices of Preventative Maintenance can help you avoid most roadside breakdowns, sometimes, emergencies and accidents are just unavoidable. Do you know the steps to take if you are in an accident?
There are some things you should do before you get in an accident:
- Consider a Roadside Assistance Membership Plan. Groups like AAA are very helpful to be in when disaster strikes, and are often included in tiers of your car insurance.
- Have an emergency kit. This is especially important if you decide to drive through snow in heavy winter. A first aid kit and a reflective vest would be good investments.
- Check for your insurance card. Make sure it is up to date and just include a copy you can give another driver in an accident.
- Get a good solar flashlight. You can leave one of these in your back window and let it charge all the time, and when you need power, it will be there for you. We can recommend the Goal Zero 250 for its roadside flashing settings.
Once you find yourself in a roadside breakdown, here are some handy steps to take:
- Put on hazard lights. If you don’t have working hazard lights as your car comes to a stop, but you have an emergency flashlight, you can use it to warn drivers who might not be able to see you in bad weather or night conditions once you are out of the car, but without working hazard lights, you will need to exercise a lot of caution.
- Pull over to the shoulder. If you are drifting to a stop, aim for the right shoulder of the road. Try to find a safe, flat location to park if possible.
- Turn Your Wheels Away from the Road and then put on the parking Brake. This is to prevent a rear-end collision sending your car back into high-speed traffic without power.
- Call for Help. If you don’t have AAA coverage, you may need to call for towing. Here are five of the highest-rated by Yelp towing services in and around Turlock:
- Francisco's Towing (209) 450-0023
- Turlock Affordable (209) 202-1010
- Turlock City Tow Service (209) 667-0734
- Art's Towing (209) 667-4529
- Kelso's Auto Dismantling & Towing (209) 632-9961
- Stay in Your Vehicle. When possible, stay IN your car and wait for help to arrive if it will not be long for the AAA driver or Hero vehicle to arrive. The exception to this rule is situations where your car may not be visible to other drivers; you will need to set up warnings so that others won’t hit you from behind. Do not leave the car at night wearing dark colors you cannot be seen in.
- Set up emergency flares, triangles, or lights. A warning might keep someone asleep at the wheel from turnpike hypnosis from rear-ending you. Raise your hood to show that the car is in distress, so that other cars will know to go around.
If you find are having your car towed to Nona’s after a breakdown or an accident, click on this embedded link to explain what has happened to our auto mechanics. Or call us at (209) 632-2044. Nona’s Auto Center is at 1565 W. Tuolumne Road, Turlock, CA 95382. Make your appointment today! Here at Nona’s Auto Center, we love cars, and we’ll treat your car just as if it were our own.