What to do if you break down on the M11
Updated
Quick answer
Leave the motorway at the next exit if you can. If you can't, pull onto the hard shoulder as far left as possible, put your hazard lights on, get everyone out through the left-hand doors and wait behind the barrier. If you can't get out safely, stay in the vehicle with your seatbelt on and call 999. Once you're safe, call for recovery and give your direction, the last junction and the number on the nearest blue driver location sign.
If your car starts to go wrong
Warning lights, a loss of power or a strange noise don't always mean you have to stop at once. If the car is still driving safely, indicate left and aim for the next exit or for Birchanger Green services at junction 8. A slip road, a lay-by or a services car park is far safer than the hard shoulder.
Stopping on the hard shoulder
- Pull as far to the left as you can, with your wheels turned slightly to the left.
- Put your hazard lights on. At night or in poor visibility, keep your sidelights on too.
- Get everyone out through the left-hand doors, away from the traffic. Leave animals in the vehicle unless it's an emergency.
- Climb over the barrier and wait up the bank, well away from the vehicle and the road.
- Don't put out a warning triangle, and don't try to fix anything yourself on the hard shoulder.
If you can't get out safely
If you've stopped in a live lane, or getting out would put you in danger, stay in the vehicle with your seatbelt on and your hazard lights on, and call 999 straight away. Tell them where you are. This is the most dangerous situation on a motorway, and the police and National Highways can close lanes to protect you.
Telling us exactly where you are
On the M11, small blue driver location signs sit at the edge of the hard shoulder. Each shows the road, a letter for the direction and a number that pinpoints you to within a few hundred metres. Tell us that number, whether you're northbound (towards Stansted and Cambridge) or southbound (towards London), and the last junction you passed.
If you're not sure, use the Request help form on our website and tap Use my location, or share your location in WhatsApp. We'll get a map pin.
The junctions around us
- Junction 6: the M25 interchange (M25 junction 27), near Theydon Bois and Epping
- Junction 7: Harlow and the A414
- Junction 7A: east Harlow, towards Old Harlow, Church Langley and Sawbridgeworth
- Junction 8: Bishop's Stortford, Stansted Airport, the A120 and Birchanger Green services
Our base is between junctions 7 and 8, so this stretch is our home ground. See our M11 breakdown recovery page for more.
If you get going again
If the problem is sorted and you can drive on, build up speed on the hard shoulder before joining the left lane, and watch for a safe gap. Don't drive on a flat tyre: it can wreck the wheel and make the car hard to control. Our tyre change service supplies and fits new tyres where it's safe to work.