You can be the best and most careful driver in South Africa, but you cannot control every road circumstance that comes your way. Perhaps you had to swerve out of the way for an oncoming car or other obstruction, and the road was slippery, which caused you to lose control of your vehicle. Any motorist can land up in a ditch with their car. It would be extremely frustrating if you had no idea how to get out of such a situation. It’s better to know beforehand some tips on how to get your car out of a ditch.1
Assess the situation
After your car has ended up in a ditch, first make sure you and your passengers are not hurt in any way. Quickly call a relevant emergency service to help the injured – for example, Netcare on 082 911 for medical emergencies. Avoid moving any injured passengers while waiting for help. Please get professional emergency advice before you do anything more, if possible. Have you called anybody for advice? Like your car insurance company or local emergency service?
Are you able to use your cell phone?
The reason for asking this is that you need to ensure your cell phone is always charged and find emergency numbers quickly. But, of course, the worst would be if you have no emergency numbers available on your cell phone.
Switch on the car’s hazard lights
Irrespective of whether it is daytime or night-time, switch on the hazard lights so that travellers and emergency vehicles can immediately spot your car. Suppose your vehicle is still partially blocking the road, and you cannot drive it out of the ditch yourself. In that case, roadside assistance needs to come as fast as possible to tow the car out of the way.
How do I get the car out of the ditch?
If the ditch is dry, reduce the car’s weight as much as possible with passengers leaving the vehicle, as well as removing heavy luggage. Then, slowly accelerate the car out of the ditch, ensuring that the wheels don’t start to spin and dig in. Stop if you are not making any progress.
What happens if the car is stuck in mud or water?
In this situation, it’s not necessary to lighten the car, as any extra weight helps the car’s traction. Tyres cannot grip mud, so stones, pieces of wood or even rubber floor mats will help when placed in front of the wheels pulling. So, in the case of front-wheel drive, put the mats just before the front wheels, or just before the back wheels for back-wheel drive cars.
What to do if the car won’t budge
Now it’s time to call on the professionals – the towing service. Unless you are experienced in this procedure by using a winch or a large flexible rope, no one should give it a try. You may end up damaging the car even more, such as the car’s frame, and bumpers.
Have your car inspected
It is wise to take your car afterwards to a reputable garage for a thorough inspection. This will give you peace of mind regarding the car’s roadworthiness.
It is important to know how well your car is covered regarding car insurance when landing in a ditch. Another advantage of a good car insurance policy is the roadside assistance and towing service offered. Finally, no one wants to be stuck on the side of the road for very long. Why not contact PMD and learn more about their affordable, comprehensive car insurance, which includes benefits such as 24-hour roadside assistance, towing, fixed premiums*, reduce to zero excess*, and much more.
Source:
1https://www.toyotaoforlando.com/blog/what-to-do-if-your-car-gets-stuck-in-a-ditch/
This article was prepared by Eric Sandmann in his personal capacity. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own. The views and opinions in the article should not be attributed to anyone but the author unless expressly stated. Nothing in this article should be relied upon as advice, this publication is presented for informational purposes only. No person should act or refrain from acting in reliance on any information found in this article, without first obtaining proper financial advice from the appropriate professional. The author makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, or completeness, of any information linked from, referred to, or contained in this article. The author reserves the right, to edit and change the content of this article.
