So in this episode, this is gonna be one of our how to episodes, isn't it,

Yeah, we're, this is the one where we talk about breakdowns and what to do, you know, how to. What happens if you break down?

Yeah, definitely. And we got the, actually this, the idea for this one has been on the list for ages. Ever since I last broke down. And I say I last broke down because it's not unusual for me to break down actually.

No, I mean you've got an older car. Yeah. It's not as new as it was. But it's reliable. As much as cars can be. But, in the family, you're the only car that breaks

Yes.

I've

I think I've broken down more than anybody else yeah, we

two. So yeah, we tend to get a phone call, broken down, exhaust fallen off, or something

Yeah, something along those lines. So, let's, I'll share the story of what happened last time, which was exactly that, my exhaust fell off. But there

there was no,

no,

Sound before, wasn't it?

Well, you say that. Actually, we'd done the school run an hour before, picked up the grandkids and I, and both of us were in the car and went, oh, that sounds a little bit sporty. But that was the first time. So we'd driven to the school, it was absolutely fine. And then driving home from the school, it was like, oh yeah, The exhaust is making a noise, that sounds a little bit sporty, best ring the garage, get that looked at. But actually we didn't have time because then when I was taking the grandchildren home, I was on a roundabout going round and roundabout and then clonk.

the exhaust fell off. The

exhaust fell off! Fall off. It did well, it didn't fall off. It didn't fall off completely because that would've been easy. So I knew exactly what had happened because it's the second time that I've had an exhaust fall off a car. So the first time I had an exhaust fall off, I was like, oh my God, what's happening? And the, because the noise was horrendous and, um, I didn't know what was going on, but this time I knew exactly what it was. So I managed to. Get off to the side of the road really, really quickly, because it's important not to keep driving with your exhaust falling off, because if you don't know which end has fallen off, which you don't when you're driving, you've no idea what sort of damage that's going to

No, that could cause other damage, more expense, bigger breakdown, you know, and you're out. You're without a car for longer.

Yeah, and a new exhaust isn't actually that big a deal. So I did manage to get us all safely to the side of the road, and had to get the kids out of the car, had to have a look at what was going on, had to make phone calls, and actually one of the big things was that I didn't have my reading glasses with me. Now I can't tell you how many problems that caused me. That was actually my biggest problem of the whole event because I couldn't read my phone properly. our daughter was with me at that point, so luckily she was able to look at my phone and do some of the bits that the, the, the breakdown cover app on my phone required me to fill in. I would have been useless without my glasses, so thankfully I did have some help with that. So that's number one lesson learnt for me. I then went out, bought myself a cheap pair of reading glasses that lived. in the glove compartment, so that I've always got a car pair of reading glasses now.

Just in case.

Just in case.

But the other thing there is that you had breakdown cover. You know, I speak to a lot of people and obviously a lot of students pass and I say to them once they've passed or, you know, if they get in their new car where they're practicing and I say, have you got breakdown cover? Uh, no, I don't know as my dad got it and mom got it for me. I don't know. And I think one of The things that really helps people is the fact that they know they have breakdown cover and it's not that expensive. There is ranges and there is expensive ones and there is European cover and whatever. But get a simple. breakdown cover.

Yeah, I would not be without it. It saved me on numerous occasions. So yeah, absolutely. It really is. I know that Breaking Down is one of those. themes that comes out for nervous and anxious drivers. It's one of those themes that comes out for the what if questions. What if I break down? What if this happens? What if that happens? So having breakdown cover is just one of those. Easy answers, easy solutions to that, and I've called the breakdown cover out when I've been on my own and I've had a puncture, and I need my tyre changed, and I'm in my work uniform, and I can't even consider, actually, I can't even consider changing a tyre now anyway, my hands and arms just will not do it. Part

now anyway, my hands and arms just will not do it. And most times when people break down, it's at the most inconvenient time.

Always.

Nighttime, rush hour, um, you're in the nice clothes, your work clothes, so you don't want to be messing around changing tires because you're going to get dirty. Um, so that is quite an important thing. Get whoever your breakdown cover is, to do the work for you. So yes, you are going to be less anxious, as long as you know you've got that cover.

Yeah, if you know that help is on its

way. Exactly, and I think sometimes as well, these apps have got better because they tell you, your recovery is going to be 35 minutes. The recovery text you as well. I'm here. Just want to check to make sure where you are. So there is that communication that goes on, but also knowing what to do when you break down as well. So like on, I know we've touched on motorways before, but if you break down on a motorway, what do you do? If you break down on a dual carriageway, what do you do? If you break down in the town? What are you going to do? So just have a think about, do I understand what I need to do?

Yeah, and the priority is always making sure that everybody in the car is safe, and if possible getting your car in the safest place for everybody else as well and then it is calling for help.

Yes, and that's the first thing is thinking about You and your passengers and making sure they're safe because what you don't want to do is cause hassle to other people and that is, you know, get yourself safe if it's on a motorway, pull into one of the leave of the hard shoulder or one of those parking places, break down places and get over the barrier,

Yes.

you know, don't stay on the carriageway, get out the car and get out into a safe place. If it's in a town, make sure you can try and pull over somewhere that is safe. So again, you're not In those situations causing problems, um, unfortunately, sometimes these do happen and there is nothing you can do.

Absolutely, and I saw a breakdown last week actually, and the guy had to, he was, he was in the middle lane on a roundabout, couldn't move the van. But he put his high vis on, he was standing, um, he obviously didn't have a red triangle, but he'd got this great big van and he was standing there with his high vis so that people could see that actually the van wasn't going anywhere so that they didn't get too tight up behind them. But this is where your warning triangles come in. If you've got a spare high vis in the car, then. That's something that's useful to put on so that you're visible on the side of the road or, you know, as you're getting out of your car, vehicle, whatever it

Yeah, and also, you know, this time of year, this is going out in the new year. The weather is not fantastic. Take coats with

Yeah. Making sure we always put a coat in the car just in case. So that level of preparation, what might you need? So I now have my reading glasses in the car all of the time. They live in the car, they don't come out. And yeah, making sure you've got coats with you just in case appropriate shoes with you, just in case. All of those

Yeah, which leads us quite nicely on to also, before you start the journeys, you know, I think preparation,

I'm going to jump in really quickly here because there's one thing that Kevin and I didn't think about to mention in this episode, and I was having a chat with somebody I know about a week after we'd recorded and they asked whether we'd included the app. What three words in this episode? And we hadn't and I promised that I would, so if you haven't already got what, three words on your device, then take a look because they sappy is incredibly helpful. If you do break down and find it difficult to describe where you are. To somebody, if you want to get help. And what three words does, is it breaks? The whole of the UK down into three meter squares. And gives that three meter precise location. Three unique words that you can then share with your breakdown, cover with emergency services. With friends and family, whoever it is that you're asking for help from. So that they're able to find you and help you because they know precisely where you are. So it's really easy to sign up. You can sign in with. Google Facebook, all the usual things. So yeah, I really recommend that you take a look at the app that could be really helpful for you.

you know, we've talked about planning our journey and again, other people know where you are. So if something does happen, they know the vicinity where you are as well. So they can get to you, maybe not be a breakdown cover. It might be dad or some partner coming out to you just to keep you company because if your electrics have gone, you can't put your hazards on.

Yep.

So someone else there can hold the traffic back from you to keep you safe, put their hazards on. But it also goes back to checking your vehicle.

Yes.

You know, I've Your incident with the exhaust was let's get it flicked into the garage. Never actually got to the garage because we didn't have time, but that's very unusual. Normally it's a, with an exhaust, it's a continuous and gets worse and worse and worse. but how often do you check your car? How often do you check your tires? And when I check the tires, it's not just kicking them. You know, check the tire pressures. Have a look at the tires. Is, is the condition of the tires okay? You know, have you got enough screen wash? Have you got the topped up fluids? Is your oil okay? And these are the sort of things, the basic tasks that you can do that are going to help your car run.

Yeah. Reduce the risk.

Yeah, it also keeps you safe. It's part of the MOT as well. so it's not just you as well. It keeps others safe on the road. And that's what I say to people is keep your car safe. You have a responsibility. Some things go wrong and you still break down. But what you've done is you've reduced that risk, haven't you?

Yeah, And making sure that your car is regularly serviced. And we have a great relationship with our local garage, don't we? So I know that I can just ring up and say, hi. It's me,

They go, again?

again. And they do their best. You know, we work really well together to keep us on the road.

and they, if you find a good garage, what happens is they give you advice. Yeah. You know, they'll say, look, The tires are getting a little bit lower. What we want to do is book you in. The mileage you do, it's going to be about two months. Let's book you in to get your new tires in in a month's time or something. So you're building those relationships. You're getting your car regularly serviced.

Yeah. And you know who to ask for, for help.

Yeah, and if you have that relationship, they're just going to ask. They'll say, oh wait, what you need to do is this. You know, I think being in a, having that relationship with a garage that you can trust is important.

Yeah, very important. I think the final thing I'd like to say on this is I really recognised that because I had had past experiences of breaking down, that for me, this wasn't a situation that made me feel nervous or anxious in any way. It was just like, oh, here we go again. But I did, while I was waiting for the breakdown van to come, I did recognise that is a situation that could be anxiety making for a lot of people. When it's something you haven't done before, when there's an unknown, anything that has that level of uncertainty is going to make you feel nervous. but if you become an expert at it, if you become a regular, then it soon becomes something that is water off a duck's back.

Yeah, I won't say the norm. But it is, you know, you know what to do. Um, and then think about it as well. If it's never happened to you, what would you do?

Yeah. So

that's the message, isn't it? It's

Yeah, Just that planning, having to think about it, not dwelling on it, not worrying about it, but having to think about what might you need and what would make that experience less anxiety provoking.

I mean we could go into more details, but it's it's about you feeling calmer if that happens.

Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so I hope you found that useful and I hope that maybe that resonates with you in some way, either because you've got your own breakdown story or because it's something that you're worried about, so hopefully that will help you allay some of those fears and maybe take some action. Remember to share the episode with anybody else that you feel might find it useful. And if you'd like to get in touch, then our contact details are in the show notes as always. And so all that leaves us to do is to say until next time, have a great day, whatever you're doing.