About 64% of Americans drive their cars daily. But what happens when your car shuts off while driving? You don’t want to let yourself get stranded.
Follow these tips to ensure that you stay safe and get back on the road driving again. Then if all else fails, we’ll tell you what to do when you can’t get your car started again.
Keep reading for the top five most essential tips.
1. Get Off the Road
If your car dies while driving, your priority should be to get off of the road. If your vehicle doesn’t run, you’re now impeding traffic and causing a dangerous situation.
Don’t panic; you’ll lose power steering and brakes when the car shuts down. But you can still navigate and brake the car. Just be prepared for it to be more challenging.
2. Turn on Your Emergency Flashers
There should be a red or orange triangle on your steering column or dash. Push this button and turn on your emergency flashers. This will signal to other drivers that you’re temporarily disabled and to use caution.
3. Try to Restart the Car
Now that you are safely out of the flow of traffic, you can try to restart your car. If you can get the car started, this is great! But the original cause of the problem is still present.
Your next destination should be a repair shop where they can diagnose and repair the problem.
4. Call for Help
If your car won’t start, but you think it’s fixable, then it’s time to call for help. Call a service that will come out and tow your vehicle to a repair shop.
You should check your car insurance to see if roadside assistance is a part of your plan. If it is, then contact them for assistance. Your other option is to call a club service such as AAA.
5. Sell the Car
If you’ve tried everything you can think of and the car won’t start, it may be time to get rid of the vehicle. There comes the point in every car’s life when it becomes cost-prohibitive to make repairs continually.
If this is the case for your car, then seek out someone who buys cars that don’t run. They will take your heap of junk off of your hands so you can get into a newer car that actually runs.
You Can Handle It When Your Car Shuts Off While Driving
If your car ever car shuts off while driving, you won’t have to panic. Follow these five tips to ensure your safety and to get your vehicle running again.
Your first priority should be to get you and your car off of the road and to safety. Then you can try to restart your vehicle. If that fails, then it’s time to look into repairing or replacing your vehicle.
Get your car running again by checking out the DIY auto repair section of our blog.