The hard shoulder has a procedure and it is worth knowing it before you need it. Once the car is stopped, put the hazards on, then get out through the nearside doors, never the offside, however awkward that is with a passenger seat in the way. Take everybody with you, including anyone who says they would rather stay in the warm. Get up the bank and behind the barrier, and walk back from the car rather than standing level with it, so that anything drifting onto the shoulder hits the vehicle and not you.
Then ring. Give the road, the direction of travel and the nearest marker post or junction, because on the M4 one stretch looks like the next. Do not attempt to change the wheel yourself: on a live motorway that is where people get hurt, and a space saver is a poor answer at the end of it anyway. A burst tyre cannot be repaired, so what you need is somebody arriving with the correct size. We attend the motorway around the clock and check the rim before fitting anything.
Once a tyre has gone, it has gone. The van carries stock for cars, SUVs and 4x4s, one call sets it moving, whether you are stopped near Tilehurst or miles from it, and the live ETA tells you when help actually arrives. Every street in Caversham, every close in Tilehurst, every junction on the M4. An Earley cul-de-sac or a Woodley main road, tell us which. A tight terrace in Whitley or a narrow bay on the A329(M) is usually workable.
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The A33 through Whitley feeds M4 traffic and the ring road junctions can snarl within minutes of an incident, so a car stopped on the shoulder around Reading is in a genuinely busy place. What keeps that situation safe is not speed of repair but where everybody is standing while they wait. Get behind the barrier, then let the van come to the vehicle.
A family that lost a tyre on the M4 got everyone out on the left and well back behind the barrier. Twenty uncomfortable minutes and completely the right decision.
A passenger who preferred to wait inside near Junction 11 was asked to move as soon as we arrived. A stationary vehicle on the shoulder is what gets struck.
A call that included the marker post number rather than a rough guess put us at the car far faster. On the motorway that detail is worth several minutes.
The nearside, always, even if it means climbing across. Opening a door into a live lane is one of the most dangerous things you can do on a motorway.
Up the bank and behind the barrier, and back from the car rather than beside it, so anything coming onto the shoulder meets the vehicle first.
No. Working on the traffic side of a car on a live motorway is exactly the situation that causes serious injuries, and on most cars you would end up on a speed limited space saver anyway.
Which motorway, which way you were heading, the closest marker post or junction, the number plate, and the sidewall size if it is safe to look.
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