What to do if…
your car won’t start and you are stranded in an unfamiliar place

What to do now

1. Decide whether this is a traffic emergency right now.

   • If you are in a travel lane, on a narrow shoulder, on a curve, in poor visibility, or you feel at immediate risk, turn on hazard lights, stay buckled if getting out would put you in traffic, and call 911.
   • If you are safely off the roadway, such as in a parking lot or wide shoulder well away from traffic, move to the next steps.

2. Make the vehicle visible without creating a new danger.

   • Turn on hazard lights.
   • If the vehicle can still move under its own power, or can roll from the driver’s seat without anyone entering traffic, get it farther from moving vehicles.
   • Do not try to push it on a highway shoulder, in a lane, on a curve, or anywhere drivers may not see you.

3. Choose the safest place to wait.

   • If getting out would put you into traffic, it may be safer to stay buckled inside with doors locked, hazards on, and help on the phone.
   • If you can reach a protected spot without crossing lanes, such as behind a guardrail, up an embankment, or inside a nearby open business, move there and keep everyone together.
   • If you smell fuel, see smoke, see flames, or feel heat from the vehicle, get away from the vehicle and call 911.

4. Call for help through a route you can verify.

   • Call your roadside assistance provider, auto club, insurer, vehicle-maker assistance line, rental-car company, or vehicle SOS button if you have one.
   • If you must find a tow yourself, use a known local company or one arranged through your insurer, auto club, rental company, or police dispatcher when possible.
   • If someone stops to help, speak through a partly opened window or from a safe distance if that feels safer.

5. Give your exact location.

   • Say the highway or road name, direction of travel, nearest exit, mile marker, cross street, business name, or landmark.
   • Describe your vehicle by color, make, model, and where it is stopped.
   • Say whether you are blocking traffic, on a shoulder, in a parking lot, or away from the car.
   • Mention children, medical needs, disability, extreme heat or cold, no phone battery, or any reason you feel unsafe.

6. Reduce the risk of predatory towing.

   • Before agreeing to a tow, ask who sent the truck, the company name, driver or truck ID, destination, and estimated total cost.
   • Check that the truck matches the company you called or the company your insurer, auto club, rental company, or police dispatcher named.
   • If the driver pressures you to sign, refuses to identify the company, will not say where the car is going, or asks for unusual payment immediately, decline if you safely can and call your insurer, auto club, or 911 if you feel threatened.

7. Save phone battery and keep one person informed.

   • Turn on low power mode, dim the screen, and close unused apps.
   • Text one trusted person your location, who you called, and any estimated arrival time.
   • If you have no signal, move only a short distance and only if it is clearly safer than staying put. Do not walk along a highway to look for service.