What to Do If Your Car Breaks Down on the Highway

Published Oct 23, 2026 · 5 min read · By Hassan, Owner of Roadmate Services

Get safe, then call. If your car breaks down on the highway, signal and ease right onto the shoulder or an exit, turn on your hazards and stay in the car with your seatbelt on. Then call for help. If anyone is hurt or the car is stopped in a live lane, call 911 first.

Quick answer: what to do first when your car breaks down

1. Get safe: get off the roadway

The moment something feels wrong, signal and move right. If the car is still rolling, aim for an exit ramp. If not, pull as far onto the right shoulder as you safely can. Use the left shoulder only if you are already stuck there; do not weave across lanes in a car that is losing power.

2. Stay in the car with your seatbelt on

The Ohio State Highway Patrol told ABC6 in Columbus that, barring an emergency in the vehicle, your car is the safest place to be. Stay buckled in with the hazards on while you wait.

Get out only for fire, smoke or another immediate danger. Then leave on the side away from traffic and wait behind the guardrail.

3. Make the car easy to see

Hazards go on as soon as you slow down. Place triangles or flares only if you can do it without walking into traffic; on a narrow interstate shoulder, skip them and stay in the car.

4. Call the right help

• 911: anyone is hurt, the car is in a live lane, there is smoke or fire, or you feel unsafe.
• #677: from a mobile phone, this reaches the nearest Ohio State Highway Patrol post.
• Roadside service: a flat tire, an empty tank or a dead battery, once you are safely on the shoulder.
• A tow: the car will not restart, or it died with warning lights on. That needs a shop, not a jump.

Give the highway, your direction and the nearest mile marker or exit. Never change a flat on the traffic side; our guide on how to change a flat tire explains where it is safe to do it yourself.

What to do if your car breaks down in the middle of the freeway

Call 911 right away. Keep your hazards on and your seatbelt fastened. Do not get out to push the car or look under the hood.

Broken down on the highway at night

Pull far right, turn on the hazards and the interior light, stay buckled in and lock the doors. If you feel unsafe, call 911. Roadmate works 6 AM to 8 PM daily, Eastern Time; outside those hours, call 911 or #677.

What Ohio’s move-over law covers

Ohio Revised Code 4511.213 requires drivers to move over or slow down for stationary emergency, public safety, road service, waste collection and highway maintenance vehicles with flashing lights. It does not list a private car with its hazards on, so do not count on traffic moving over for you. Stay buckled in and off the roadway.

Broken down in Columbus?

On I-70, I-71, I-270 and the rest of the Outerbelt, highway safety comes before speed. Get onto the shoulder or an exit first, then call us. Most of our out-of-gas calls are on highway shoulders.

If the car will not restart, a tow in Columbus is estimated at $125 to $275 for tows of about 1 to 15 miles; longer tows are quoted by phone.

Our average arrival is about 32 minutes, depending on traffic, weather and location. If you coasted off the exit into a gas station with an empty tank, you do not need us at all. That is the cheapest roadside call there is.

3 things to do before your next highway trip

1. Check your emergency kit. Many ride in the trunk for years, still sealed. Our emergency car kit list covers what belongs in it.
2. Keep a phone charger in the car. A phone at 3% can turn a breakdown into a much longer afternoon.
3. Watch the gas gauge, as Hassan keeps asking. The low-fuel light is a deadline, not a suggestion.

Frequently asked questions

The bottom line

When your car breaks down on the highway, get safe first: shoulder or exit, hazards on, seatbelt on. Stay in the car unless there is fire or smoke. Call 911 if anyone is hurt or you are in a live lane, then roadside help or a tow.

Here is to highway trips where the only stop is for coffee.