Stranded on the Monash or EastLink? 5 Steps for Safe Freeway Breakdowns

First, get out of live traffic as quickly as possible; this is your highest priority when things go wrong with your vehicle. Don't wait until your engine sputters, a tyre blows out or the warning light comes on your dashboard before you pull the vehicle over. Turn on your flashing lights and start signalling to the following driver(s) that you are in an emergency and need to move towards the left.

On sections of the Monash Freeway or Eastlink with a dedicated left hand emergency shoulder, over the solid white line, and park as far left on the road as possible. Look for the nearest marked emergency breakdown bay if you are on a managed motorway; a road equipped with a shoulder that is used as a live driving lane in times of congestion. These bays are well protected from traffic and have the greatest degree of structure protection until the local flatbed recovery unit arrives.

Once you have stopped on the shoulder or in a breakdown bay, turn on ALL visual warnings and remain in the vehicle. Turn on flashing hazard lights. To ensure your vehicle is properly visible from a distance, particularly in the event of a breakdown during a heavy Melbourne winter downpour, late at night or on poorly lit portions of the freeway, turn your car's parking lights on. In the event that your vehicle is not on fire or in an extremely unsafe live lane, it is safest for you and your passengers to be inside and wearing their seatbelts.

Your vehicle's steel frame protects you from secondary collisions. When you're on a high-speed freeway shoulder, you're right in the midst of traffic and heavy trucks that can kick up unpredictable winds. Do not open windows, do not panic, and tell everyone in the vehicle to stay in the vehicle as you start making arrangements for help.

An advantage of stopping on a major modern tollway such as Eastlink or a managed toll area on Monash is the extensive network of intelligent transport systems that are monitoring the road corridor. Dedicated control centres run the twenty-four hour closed-circuit television camera and automatic incident detection systems on these freeways. In the event that your car stalls, the control room operators will quickly see your stalled vehicle on EastLink. They can quickly flash the overhead digital speed signs, and reduce the posted speed limit for oncoming traffic and activate a red 'X' that closes the lane immediately next to your car. Tollway operators will immediately respond to an incident by sending their own incident response vehicles to place a physical buffer zone between you and them by flashing arrow boards.

If direct contact is necessary, please find the nearest roadside emergency help phone or contact the appropriate tollway authority using your mobile device. There are rare situations in which it is no longer feasible to exit the vehicle: a smoking engine compartment or an electrical fire or if the vehicle is completely flat against a structural concrete barrier with no lane clearance. When exiting the vehicle, this movement must be carried out with great care and carefulness.

When leaving the vehicle: Always use the doors on the left side of the car (passenger side), and get completely clear of the live lanes of passing traffic. Do not open the driver side door into a high speed freeway lane. After exiting the car, never stand directly in front of or behind the car as a second rear end crash may cause you to get squashed between cars. Rather, find a safe place outside of the road corridor. Go up the grass embankment or behind the heavy steel W-beam guardrails or concrete jersey barriers.

Always pay attention to traffic and make sure that any children or pets are secure.

Arrange to get the vehicle taken off the freeway by a professional tow company. Each of these major motorway authorities has their own rules on how long an abandoned disabled vehicle can be left on a high speed motorway shoulder, as abandoned vehicles can cause a major distraction and constant collision hazard for other motorists. When you call a local Melbourne towing company, you will need to get them your true geographical position.

Record the name of the nearest freeway exit, or identify kilometer marker posts on the side of the road, or place a digital pin on the mapping apps on your smart phone. By indicating either North or South, the recovery driver will be able to avoid making long detours to interchanges to approach the incident location.

If you are an all-wheel-drive car or have a low body kit your vehicle can be loaded onto a special tilt-tray flatbed truck which will ensure that your car is loaded safely without causing additional strain to any mechanical components and will not be added to the motorway network for loading.