Breaking Down, step by step
Educational reference. Motorway guidance differs by country; follow local rules.
- Get off the carriagewayHard shoulder or an emergency area, as far left as possible.
- Hazards onSidelights too in poor visibility.
- Everyone out on the leftAway from traffic, over the barrier, and up the bank if there is one.
- Do not stand near the carStand behind the barrier, ahead of the vehicle.
- Call for helpEmergency phones give your exact location automatically.
Warning triangle
- Use on ordinary roads, ~45 m behind
- NEVER on a motorway hard shoulder
- Never attempt roadside repairs on a motorway
Educational reference. Leave pets in the car unless it is unsafe; a loose animal on a motorway is extremely dangerous.
Questions about the Breaking Down poster
- What’s on the Breaking Down poster?
- 5 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. Educational reference. Motorway guidance differs by country; follow local rules. Get off the carriageway — Hard shoulder or an emergency area, as far left as possible.; Hazards on — Sidelights too in poor visibility.; Everyone out on the left — Away from traffic, over the barrier, and up the bank if th…; Do not stand near the car — Stand behind the barrier, ahead of the vehicle.; Call for help — Emergency phones give your exact location automatically.. Educational reference. Leave pets in the car unless it is unsafe; a loose animal on a motorway is extremely dangerous.
- Who is the Breaking Down poster for?
- Breaking Down belongs to the Practical skills section rather than to a school year, because life skills is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning the car can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Breaking Down poster?
- Get out on the passenger side and stand behind the barrier. Never stand near the car. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Breaking Down belongs on the wall where that life skills work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Breaking Down?
- After an Accident, Buying a Used Car and Car Emergency Kit sit alongside Breaking Down in the Practical skills section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.After an AccidentBuying a Used CarCar Emergency Kit
- Is the Breaking Down poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Breaking Down downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Practical skills section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Breaking Down poster print at?
- Breaking Down is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Breaking Down loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Breaking Down on the same wall.
Browse every Practical skills poster, or start from the full catalogue.