What to do if you get a flat tyre on the motorway
6 min readBy Wheel Fit
The short answer: get as far left as you can, stop in a place of relative safety, put the hazards on, and get everyone out of the car and behind the barrier before you phone anyone. Do not attempt to change a wheel on the hard shoulder or in a live lane.
1. Slow down gradually and move left
A deflating tyre pulls the car towards the affected side. Hold the wheel firmly, come off the accelerator and let the speed fall rather than braking hard — sudden braking on a failed tyre is what turns a puncture into a spin.
Work your way to the nearside and, if you can reach one, use a slip road, service area or emergency area rather than stopping on the carriageway. Even a badly damaged tyre will usually tolerate a short distance at low speed, and the difference in safety between an emergency area and a live lane is enormous.
2. Stop as far left as possible
On the hard shoulder, pull as far onto the left as you can and turn the front wheels to the left, so the car is pushed away from the carriageway if it is struck from behind. Put the hazard warning lights on immediately, and use sidelights in poor visibility.
Smart motorways without a hard shoulder
Where the nearside lane is a running lane, aim for the next emergency area — these are marked with orange surfacing and a blue sign with an orange SOS phone symbol. If you cannot reach one and the car will not move, keep your seatbelt on, leave the hazards on, and call 999. Do not get out into a live lane.
3. Get out and get behind the barrier
This is the step people skip, and it is the one that matters most. Leave the vehicle through the nearside (passenger) doors, away from passing traffic, and wait up the embankment or behind the safety barrier — not in the car, and not standing in front of it.
- Take everyone with you, including passengers who would rather stay put.
- Keep pets in the vehicle unless you can control them safely.
- Do not attempt to retrieve anything from the offside of the car.
4. Work out exactly where you are
Whoever you call will ask for your location first, and "on the M40 somewhere" costs time. There are three reliable ways to answer:
| Source | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Driver location signs | Small blue signs roughly every 100m showing the road number, direction letter and distance in kilometres. The most precise option. |
| Marker posts | Posts at the verge with a number, and an arrow pointing to the nearest emergency phone. |
| Your phone | The junction you last passed, plus your direction of travel, is usually enough to get someone to you. |
5. Do not change the wheel yourself
It is tempting, particularly if you have a spare and have done it before on a driveway. On a motorway it is a genuinely dangerous thing to do: you have to kneel on the offside of the car, with your body close to traffic passing at speed, while the vehicle is up on a jack on a cambered surface.
Wait for someone to come to you. That is what the hard shoulder is for.
6. What to tell the fitter when you call
Having these ready turns a long call into a short one:
- Location — road number, direction, nearest junction, and the marker post if you can see one.
- Tyre size — moulded into the sidewall, e.g. 205/55 R16 91V.
- What happened — slow deflation, sudden blowout, or kerb impact. It changes what we bring.
- Locking wheel nut key — whether you have it. Without it the wheel cannot come off.
- Spare or no spare — many newer cars carry only a sealant kit.
A note on sealant kits and space savers
Sealant kits handle small tread punctures only. They will not fix a sidewall split or a blowout, and a tyre that has had sealant in it still has to be replaced afterwards.
Space-saver spares are usually limited to 50mph and a restricted distance — check the label on the wheel itself. They are designed to get you off the motorway, not to complete your journey.
Once you are safe
We cover motorway and roadside call-outs around the clock. Call 07989 606060 once you are behind the barrier, and we will confirm the price and a realistic arrival time before setting off.
It is also worth reading how to check your tread depth — worn tyres are far more likely to fail in the first place — or whether your puncture can be repaired rather than replaced.
