Winter is coming...

Stuck out nowhere after a breakdown? Is your cellphone battery low? 

1. Text your friends. Texting uses little power, and often connects even if the signal's too weak to talk. 

2. Tell them where you are, what's wrong, and what you're going to do (stay vs walk). 

3. Staying is almost always safer. Your car keeps you dry and warmer, and protects you against getting run over. Search and rescue experts find live people in cars, dead people in the wilderness. 

4. Send a text to 911. Some 911 call centers take text messages. 

5. Change the phone's voicemail, if you can, to a message with your approximate location, the time, the date, your situation (lost, out of gas, car broken down, injured, etc) and any special instructions such as you are staying with the car, you are walking toward a town, etc. Even if your cell phone stops, voicemail still works, so people calling hear your message and know where to find you or where to send help.

Before this happens: 

A. Get a spare cellphone battery pack and charge cable. 

B. Get maps from your state highway department (free!) and your county road department (free!).

C. Put those maps in a breakdown bag with emergency rations, water, flashlight, blankets, hat, coat, gloves, and socks (wet socks will rapidly steal heat from you) for each car. 

D. When you can, add roadside reflectors and flasher lights or flares. They're cheap at Harbor Freight. 

E. Maintain your car. Get a tire gauge and check pressure on tires and spare, and do that oil change you've been putting off.