Highways England is urging drivers to be prepared at the start of the busiest time of the year for motorway breakdowns.
New data from the company shows more than 48,500 motorway breakdowns happened over the summer holiday period, between the final week of June and the first weekend of September last year.
Highways England is expecting to respond to an extra 700 breakdowns a week for the next ten weeks, taking the average number of motorway breakdowns each week to almost 5,000.
The first weekend in August was the busiest weekend for breakdowns on England’s motorways last year, closely followed by the last weekend in July, with one breakdown reported every two minutes as drivers set off on day trips and holidays.
Around a quarter of summer breakdowns are caused by punctures or other tyre issues. Vehicles running out of fuel and engines overheating other common reasons for breakdowns on motorways. Highways England is also advising drivers that regular car checks help avoid breakdowns:
In addition, Highways England has issued five basic safety tips to follow if your car does break down on a motorway:
“We want everyone to get to their destination safely and we can all play a part in that. Highways England has done a lot of work to ease congestion on our motorways and make them safer, and our traffic officers are there to help get things moving if there’s a problem. But you should also make sure you know what to do if your vehicle does break down. We’re expecting to see a big increase in breakdowns over the next few weeks as drivers set out on longer journeys during the summer. So, we’re urging drivers to remember the basics of motorway driving, including carrying out simple vehicle checks before setting off, to help keep us all moving.”