Stay or go? There is no rule if your car breaks down

Drivers are always told to buckle up and stay in their car, if they are broken down in the middle of the road or are in an accident, but a 24-year-old Seattle woman died Monday on I-405 after following that advice.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Chris Webb said this at the scene of Monday’s crash, “I’d leave the vehicle.”

So which is it? Stay in the car or get out?

Staying in your car, buckled up, is usually the best way to avoid being injured if your car is broken down. You don’t want to try and dodge traffic on foot. After reflecting on what he said at the scene, Trooper Webb said this about the standard advice of staying in the car, “unfortunately, maybe in this situation, it wasn’t [the safest option,] but it usually is.”

Alea Price was killed early Monday as she sat in her disabled car in the middle of I-405. She had hit a deer. A semi-truck going freeway speeds slammed into the rear of her car and pushed it several hundred feet down the road.

Trooper Webb said the best thing to do in that situation is move your car as far out of traffic as you can, even if you’re driving on the rims or doing more damage to your car.

In normal traffic, staying in your car makes the most sense. Other drivers are likely going slower and will likely avoid you. Getting out and dodging traffic on foot in that scenario is not a good idea.

In light traffic, you risk cars coming at you at higher speeds, but you might have more opportunities to dash to the shoulder.

“I would hesitate to give anybody any advice because every situation is different,” Trooper Webb said. “No situation out here is 100 percent the same. Just use your best judgement for what you think at that time and I guess go with it.”

So there is no set rule on what is the best thing to do.

“It’s tragic, and there’s no answer for it,” Trooper Webb said in looking back on Monday’s collision. “This might be one of those cases where we’ll just come away sort of broken hearted and scratching our heads and wondering why it happened the way it did.”

Monday’s accident is still under investigation, including whether Price’s car was actually disabled enough to prevent her from driving it to the shoulder.

Investigators haven’t released whether the 911 dispatcher Price had spoken to after hitting the deer told her to stay in the car. KIRO Radio has requested the 911 tapes.