THERE'S nothing worse than a flashing light on your dashboard and having no idea what it means.
The Sun spoke to North Yorkshire mechanic Sean Sidley, 33, who works for AA, about what to do when you breakdown - and how to avoid a common fault.
He warned that drivers often have a similar problem.
Sean said: "Nine times out of ten it is just a battery fault."
The mechanic recommended a few key checks drivers can do to avoid battery breakdowns happening while on the road.
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He added: "Keep an eye on your dashboard lights, listen out for a chugging engine and check for battery corrosion."
You can tell if your car battery has corroded if there's green powder leaking around the power source.
Sean's advice for motorists who break down is to stay calm.
He said: "It's important to try not to panic.
"Obviously it's a stressful situation, but you need to think clearly."
Drivers whose cars have broken down must pull over safely and stand by their vehicle - behind a barrier if there is one, Sean said.
If there's nowhere to safely stand, drivers and passengers should stay in their car with seatbelts on.
That's even more difficult on smart motorways, which only have "emergency refuge areas" every few miles.
And unsurprisingly, motorways and dual carriageways are Sean's least favourite places to complete a repair.
He said: "Those two are definitely the worst.
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"Some don't have hard shoulders, which makes life a bit more difficult for us too."
Sean also said that there's one fault that he finds the most challenging - changing a broken headlight in the middle of the night.
Making the crucial fix in pitch-black darkness is, surprisingly, one of the hardest parts of the job, Sean said.
"Obviously we're trained to deal with anything and working through the night is nothing strange for us."
"But changing headlight bulbs can be particularly difficult because you're working blind a lot of the time.
"Switching a bulb when you can't actually see what you're doing can be pretty tricky."
Plans to expand smart motorways have been put on hold after ministers said they will consider reintroducing hard shoulders on all motorways through the night.
Emergency refuge areas should be found around very half mile - but most Brits still aren't sure how to wait safely at the roadside.
The government launched an urgent inquiry into smart motorways last September after a number of speed cameras were found to be pointing towards the sky.
