Not knowing about the sightlines involved in the OP case, but I narrowly avoided being killed late one night back in college when I crested a rise on a southern California freeway to find a blacked out stopped car in the lane directly ahead of me. Much closer than I could have stopped; braking would have been a collision for sure. Traffic was light; there was no jam, no warning. Just suddenly there they were, hard to see in the dark.
Going 70-some mph, I maneuvered aggressively into the adjacent lane, but well aware of the risks of overcontrolling and losing control. I missed them by inches. Fortunately I was driving a maneuverable car, not drinking, and was paying attention. And was quick even by 20yo standards.
Each car that crested the rise in that lane was faced with the exact same threat. Which would continue until somebody hit the car, setting up a chain reaction situation, or the cops arrived.
That is the threat that a stopped car in the middle of a freeway represents. An unexpected obstacle that can be, and given enough time, will be, hit at speed by somebody. With severe and possibly fatal consequences.
This was obviously decades ago, late at night, and in an area where all the payphones had long since been vandalized. So I at least did not report it until I got home 20 minutes later. I never learned whether anyone else hit the car before the cops got there. I only know I didn’t, and neither did the however-many folks who’d come up behind it before me.
I can’t believe people actually think a car broken down in the middle of a busy freeway is not an emergency!
I’m sure you’ve seen videos of inattentive drivers slamming into the back of stopped cars because they don’t expect them to be there. This is a situation that could easily result in death.
And also fortunately, there wasn’t someone else already in the lane next to you. If you and another car had crested that ridge at the same time, then you’d have definitely hit at least one car, likely both.
Agreed. I was aware of who (by luck) wasn’t around me. But had I been mistaken, or had I known there was somebody flanking me, the choices would have gotten real limited and real unappetizing very, very quickly. I glanced before I committed, but we all know how hasty glances often miss something obvious.
That was over 40 years ago & I still remember where and can see the event unfolding in my mind. It left a dent.
During the 1979(?) gas crisis I ran out of gas twice. I was driving an MG Midget at the time. The first time I was stuck in traffic in downtown Pittsburgh. I was able to get out of my car and push it the final 1/2 block to a gas station, getting the car right up to the pump.
The second time I was in Penn Hills and the gas station I pulled into was closed. I parked at the pump and slept in my car (MG Midget sleeping is not comfortable). When the guy opened up in the morning he told me I was the fifth person who slept at his gas pump.
Years ago I lived in a downtown-like area. Driving home one day I noticed I was real low, as in I think I will just barely make it to the station a block from home. If I make all the lights. Maybe.
Anyhow, the car quit about 40 feet short of the station and I wrestled with the failing power steering and brakes pulling into the station as I coasted to a stop. Parked the tranny & brakes and got out. The hose was 6" too short to meet the filler neck.
If that’s not the world record for “close but no cigar” on running out of gas, I don’t know what is.
The downside was the car was an early 1990s full sized Ford Bronco. Scrawny me was not able to push it the requisite 6" without help. Even by trying to roll the top of the tires for 2x leverage. I had the muscles, but not the traction.
The problem is it’s much harder to get a good purchase on the top of the tire w your hands versus just leaning a shoulder against the trunk. But if the shoulder-to-trunk method doesn’t work, see if you can MacGyver a way to apply force to the top of a tire. Or use your Vicegrips of Death handshake muscles. Might get lucky and have it work.
I have a friend whose car broke down on an interstate recently. He was able to pull over to the shoulder as it was dying. So he called AAA. They told him they weren’t allowed to tow him, because he was too close to an on-ramp, and despite not being actually in the road, it was considered too risky for them to stop there. He had to call the police, and have police stop traffic and have a police tow truck move him.
I can’t imagine the rules aren’t at least as stringent for a car actually blocking a lane of traffic.
I think we’ve all seen some of those horrific Youtubes of cars, including police cars, sitting on the freeway or rural highway shoulder when some passing moron clips them going 50 or 100mph.
It’s real impressive. And real unsurvivable for people in the struck vehicle or between any of the vehicles. I can certainly imagine a lot of the larger tow outfits, such as AAA, getting much more conservative about the risks they’ll let their crews run.
Every time I’ve had to call Roadside Assistance, the first question is am I safe. Once I broke down on the freeway, and even though I’d made it to the shoulder, they expedited the response (though the Metro support vehicle got there first). I’ve only had to wait a while if it’s non serious (like a dead battery, and I was at home).
I wish there was a standard non-emergency number for police that would work wherever you were. But it would probably get overwhelmed with dumb calls every day.
I think that’s preferrable to 911 systems getting overwhelmed with non-emergency calls.
The breakdown described in the OP was reported through an automated non-emergency phone system. I didn’t notice any mention that 911 should have been used instead. And if you do call the non-emergency number and they think your situation is an emergency it will be treated just like it is one. Obviously a breakdown on the road could create an emergency situation in some circumstances, but simply causing a traffic jam is not one of them.
I don’t understand why you keep referring to a possible traffic jam. Is there some news source reporting that this was Spears’ motivation in making the call?
As others have said, a car breaking down on a freeway absolutely IS an emergency situation in and of itself, not just in “some circumstances.”
If you can’t remove the vehicle from the travel lane and can’t exit, contact emergency services, turn on your hazard lights and keep your seatbelt on.
Call the police, or 911. When your car dies, it can be tempting to focus on calling a tow truck or roadside assistance. However, depending on the situation, you may need to call 911 first.
A vehicle blocking traffic at an intersection or in the middle of the road isincredibly dangerous and can easily lead to a collision. For that reason, you’ll want to make sure that emergency services are notified as soon as possible. When you speak to the dispatch operator, make sure to tell them that your car is blocking traffic so that they know to send an officer to direct traffic immediately.
…In any case, it is necessary to have an officer on site - hitching a vehicle to a tow truck in the middle of traffic is dangerous for the tow truck operator.
This is just an opinion. But it’s the opinion of someone who spends half his time responding to emergency calls and the other half supervising 911 dispatchers. A car broken down in the lane of travel of a highway is not just a traffic jam. It’s a very dangerous situation that could and sometimes does result in death. It’s a serious hazard that should be called in to 911.
