It’s easy to panic when you’re stranded by the side of the road after your car breaks down or you’re late for an early morning meeting and it just won’t start. Helping you keep your cool and stay safe, AAA has some advice for stranded motorists.

In a case where your car just won’t start, the problem may lie with the battery. It could be that it’s discharged or there’s a poor connection. Open the hood and check out the battery to see if it’s securely mounted in place and see if the cable clamps are connected to the battery. Cable clamps that are loose or corroded may be the problem. Clean the corrosion from the battery terminals and cable clamps and make sure the clamps are secured tight. If that doesn’t work, check to see if your car is fully in park and that there’s enough fuel in the vehicle. If all else fails, it’s time to call in a road service provider.

If you ever find yourself experiencing car problems while driving, your first priority is pulling off to a safe location. This should be away from the flow of traffic, and you should stay in your car while waiting for roadside assistance. Once you’re safe, you can call your road service provider. Take a look around and take note of your surroundings, landmarks and signs – anything that will help roadside assistance find your location. There are even certain smartphone apps (such as AAA TripTik Mobile and AAA Roadside) that will send your GPS location right to your roadside assistance provider.

Once roadside assistance has picked you up, you need to decide where to take it to get fixed. If you’re far from home and can’t get it to your regular mechanic, the easiest way to find a repair ship is with the help of a handy smartphone app (again the AAA TripTik Mobile and AAA Roadside apps can help you out here).

Do you have room on your iPhone for more app? You’ll want to make room for the AAA TripTik Mobile, a free app that offers small-screen navigation.

You don’t have to be an AAA member to get it (but being a member gets you access to some extra features of the app), the AAA TripTik Mobile gets you where you need to go while letting you know what you’ll find along the route. There’s a scrolling list of Point of Interest (POI) icons for AAA approved hotels, restaurants, attractions, car garages and gas stations.

If you want to stop at one of these POI, just tap on pinpointed icon to get more information, such as address, phone number and AAA reviews and diamond ratings. If you need to stop for gas, the gas station icon shows the brand and price of unleaded and premium fuel.

Right below the POI icons are the Explore and Navigate buttons. The Explore function lets you type a destination in a search box, while the Navigate functions allows typing in a route after hitting a Directions icon. This app also remembers previous routes you’ve typed in.

After your course has been set, the TripTik gives you a turn list, and you can use the Edit icon to change your route. You can use the Co-pilot function to get spoken directions or shake the phone for the next set of directions. For turn-by-turn directions, just hit the arrow under the top border with the Edit, Co-Pilot and Directions button.

There are plenty of icons to play with on this app, including a target that zooms in on your current location and one that opens a screen for your AAA number and phone number, as well as call for roadside assistance, join AAA and give the organization feedback via email.

[Source: Edmunds Inside Line]