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Question

Difficulty: HardBreakdown Procedures

While travelling in the left lane of a conventional motorway, sudden mechanical failure forces you to stop. In what chronological sequence should you execute these emergency breakdown procedures, from first to last?

  1. 1Steer onto the hard shoulder as far left as possible, turn the front wheels towards the verge, and switch on hazard warning lights.
  2. 2Instruct all occupants to exit the vehicle using the nearside (left-hand) doors only.
  3. 3Move yourself and all passengers behind the crash barrier and position everyone well up the verge or embankment.
  4. 4Walk to the nearest roadside emergency telephone on your side of the carriageway, keeping behind the safety barrier and facing oncoming traffic.
  5. 5Call the regional control centre using the roadside telephone and provide the location reference number printed on the box.

Answer

The correct procedural order is: (1) Position the vehicle as far left on the hard shoulder as possible with wheels turned left and hazard lights activated; (2) Evacuate all occupants via the nearside (left) doors; (3) Relocate all occupants behind the safety barrier and up the embankment; (4) Walk behind the barrier facing oncoming traffic to the nearest emergency phone; (5) Contact the control centre using the emergency phone and provide the box location reference.
Under UK Highway Code Rule 274, vehicle safety positioning and passenger evacuation must always precede communication. First, the vehicle must be parked as far to the left of the hard shoulder as possible with wheels turned left and hazard lights on. Second, occupants must evacuate exclusively via the nearside (left) doors. Third, all occupants must retreat behind the safety barrier and up the embankment. Fourth, the driver walks to the nearest emergency roadside telephone on the same side of the motorway while facing oncoming traffic. Finally, the driver reports the incident to the control centre using the marker coordinates.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Bring the vehicle to a halt on the hard shoulder as far left as possible, turn steering wheels left, and illuminate hazard warning lights.
The car is safely removed from live traffic flow, protected from rolling into the carriageway if struck, and clearly visible.
Highway Code Rule 274 states you must get your vehicle off the carriageway onto the hard shoulder and warn other traffic immediately.
2
Ensure all vehicle occupants vacate the car through the left-hand (nearside) doors.
Passengers avoid stepping directly into the path of high-speed traffic passing on the offside.
Exiting through offside doors risks catastrophic collision with passing vehicles.
3
Escort all passengers behind the safety barrier and up onto the verge/embankment.
All persons are positioned in the safest possible roadside zone.
Remaining inside or near a stationary vehicle on the hard shoulder carries severe risk of fatal impact from drifting vehicles.
4
Walk to the nearest emergency roadside telephone, keeping behind the safety barrier and facing oncoming traffic.
You progress safely towards official communication while keeping an eye on approaching traffic hazards.
Emergency roadside telephones connect directly to National Highways regional control centres and pinpoint location automatically.
5
Communicate with the control centre operator, quoting marker post details and the nature of the vehicle defect.
Precise breakdown details and emergency response or lane closure signals can be set immediately.
The roadside telephone identifies your exact motorway section, direction of travel, and kilometre marker.

Key Concept

Highway Code motorway breakdown and evacuation protocol
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Breakdown Procedures

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