What to do if…
your car hood or bonnet will not latch properly before you start driving

What to do now

1. Keep the car still if you are already in a safe place. A driveway, parking bay, garage forecourt, or quiet car park is usually safer than trying to move with an unsecured bonnet.
2. If the car is creating an immediate hazard, make the stop safer. Use hazard warning lights if the vehicle is stationary and causing an obstruction. Only move within the immediate stopping area, at very low speed, if remaining exactly where you are is clearly more dangerous than moving.
3. Open the bonnet fully and look for obvious obstruction. Check for a cloth, tool, loose cap, leaves, ice, or trapped cable around the latch and striker area. Remove only obvious loose items.
4. Try one normal close. Close the bonnet using the method in your vehicle handbook, or the normal method you already know for that car. If it does not latch with normal pressure, do not force it.
5. Check whether the primary latch has engaged. With the bonnet closed, gently lift the front edge. If it rises, sits unevenly, shows a bonnet warning, or opens using only the outside safety catch, treat it as not secured.
6. Stop troubleshooting if it still will not secure. The problem may need proper adjustment, a replacement part, or release-cable repair.
7. Arrange help where the car is. Contact breakdown cover, a mobile mechanic, the garage that last worked on the car, or recovery to a garage. Say clearly: “The bonnet will not securely latch and could open while driving.”
8. If you are already stopped in a dangerous roadside position, follow UK breakdown safety guidance. Get to a place of relative safety if you can, keep away from moving traffic, and contact breakdown assistance or 999 if you cannot get safely away from danger.