Roadside Safety Etiquette While Awaiting Your Truck Repair
If your truck breaks down on the road, both you and other drivers on the road face safety risks. Unfortunately, accidents involving vehicles parked on the side of the road are common. Roadside accidents are responsible for 39 percent of fatal accidents on roads in the United States.
Your priority should be calling roadside truck repair and assistance as soon as you pull off the road to safety. Before your truck repair arrives, you can take safety measures to reduce accident risk.
Traffic Control Assistance
Many accidents happen while a vehicle in distress slows down in a high-speed zone. Once you realize you need to pull over, safe management of the vehicle in the first few minutes is crucial. Start flashing your hazard lights as soon as you begin to slow the vehicle. Vehicles required to park on the side of the road should look for a wide, hard, and flat surface. One-third of roadside accidents happen on curved road sections.
Ideally, the vehicle should be several meters from the side of the road. If you cannot bring the truck a safe distance from the traffic before stopping, immediately call the police or truck repair service for roadside assistance. Use both your mobile phone and GPS location to identify your location. The police or roadside assistance will cordon off your vehicle and direct traffic to prevent an accident until the roadside truck repair service can fix or tow your vehicle.
Safety Precautions
Once parked, do not call your spouse first to say you will be late for dinner. Your priority should be getting the truck repaired or towed and out of the accident danger zone as soon as possible. Additional safety warnings can keep you and your vehicle safe on the roadside. If you have not already, make these three accident safety items a necessity in your vehicle:
- A vest with high reflexivity. A standard roadside construction vest with reflective yellow or orange will keep you safe while awaiting a roadside repair service.
- Flashing lights to mount on the vehicle to improve visibility at a distance and forewarn upcoming vehicles.
- Roadside triangles to place around the vehicle.
The Roadside Truck Repair
It is always a big relief when the roadside truck repair arrives. Do not let your guard down. Stay within your vehicle's coned off area to allow the truck to safely park. Once the truck repair service has stopped, ask to see the identification of the service repair professionals. While the repair work is being performed, remain outside of the vehicle.
For more information, contact a roadside repair service in your area.
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