Woman's crash ordeal highlights breakdown fears

Should we save money on breakdown cover, girls? We're capable, modern types that know a thing or two about the world.

It's a personal choice and it maybe helpful to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of paying extra on top of your woman car insurance.

Not wanting to do any kind of hard sell, it's worth remembering thought that car accidents and breakdowns are very common.

Perhaps the following tale of a woman driving alone will help us female motorists decide.

Bridget is driving alone to work before dawn on a dark, country road in winter. An animal scampering across the road is suddenly caught in her headlights.

She swerves to avoid hitting the rabbit. Her nearside tyres mount the grass verge. Thinking she's safe and all should be well in a minute, she starts to steer back onto the road.

Unfortunately, the grass verge was a virtual bog. As her near-bald tyres return to the road tarmac, they are covered in mud and grass.

Without grip, the car starts to slip and slide across the road. With no advanced driver training and never faced this situation before, she tries to steer the car, hoping her tyres will grip the road again.

The car is travelling at 40mph, with the engine helping her brake as her foot lifts clear of the accelerator pedal.

But Bridget can't feel the situation slowing down or improving.

The car starts to veer a little this way and that as she tries to hold the vehicle straight using small steering wheel movements to try to regain control.

But as each fraction of a second goes by, her car starts to drift across the left side of the road into the lane for oncoming traffic.

Fear grips Bridget. The car is juddering and rocking now as it starts to spin. It feels like it will flip over as it slides along the road sideways.

She thinks she sees bright angels in the distance, coming to carry her away, as the front of the car smashes into a tree on the opposite side of the road.

The car spins away from the tree under the impact and comes to a rapid halt.

She quickly realises, to her amazement, that she's ok, uninjured – and is also worryingly aware she's stopped in the middle of a main road.

Her engine is still running, so she puts the car into gear and drives over to the verge – or rather, hobbles to the verge, because a damaged bonnet and wing grate on her car wheels.

Her pace is slow but she parks on to the verge as car headlights appear. Unfortunately, the car flashes by, apparently oblivious.

"Thank God I've got a mobile phone," thinks Bridget.

Pulling it out of her pocket, she tries to make a call. But there is no signal.

For some minutes she wonders what to do. Unable to drive the damaged car, she realises she will have to walk for help or stay with her vehicle.

She remembers that half-a-mile up the road is a mobile catering van. She decides to walk there.

Reaching the food caravan, she is relieved to find a friendly chef preparing breakfasts. Help at last.

His mobile phone works fine. A call is put into her breakdown service and, thankfully, recovery of her car can begin.

"Next time," she said, "the rabbit gets it!"

Well, yes, if the fluffy animal hadn't appeared from nowhere, the crash would not have happened.

But more intelligent hindsight highlights a few crucial pointers. For a start, good car maintenance would ensure tyres are in at least a legal state of repair.

And then women's driving skills – how about an Institute of Advanced Motorists course to learn how to deal with dangerous moments and, more importantly, driving safely to avoid hairy situations?

This story highlights that there's no such thing as a ‘textbook' breakdown or car accidents. To illustrate, simply compare the problems in the accident above with the AA's guidance to women breaking down on UK roads:

Always have a mobile phone handy that works - charged and ready to use with credit available.
It is essential to have decent shoes or boots in the car, as well as a blanket, a coat, torch, and cash.
Try to drive to an area that is well lit i.e. a petrol station.
To avoid attack, doors must be locked until a breakdown patrol arrives. Mechanics will be able to show identification.
Do not wait in a broken down car on motorways - climb a bank, or walk behind a barrier.

Remember, think hard about being prepared. Car accidents do happen. Breakdown cover is available with cheap car insurance from CoverGirl Car Insurance Services.

CoverGirl doesn't cover men drivers because we don't want women to subsidise their car insurance claims – men's claims are proven to be costlier than female motorists.

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*A replacement car can normally be arranged under one of the following conditions: (1) Comprehensive policyholders – a replacement car may be available under the terms of your insurance policy. Please check your policy details for more information. (2) Non fault accident – where we have the name, car registration number and insurance details of the person who caused the accident, we can supply a replacement car. This is done on a credit hire basis which means the costs for this service will be passed onto the insurance company of the person who caused the accident. We may not be able to arrange a replacement car where we are unable to get an admission of liability from their insurance company, or where the driver is untraceable or uninsured. (3) Repair garage – if your car is booked in for repairs following an accident, the repair garage may be able to provide a replacement car (subject to availability).