Cars these days tend to be much more reliable than my first car, an old one that had a manual choke and didn’t like to start in most weather conditions, including rain, a common situation in this country.

It makes it easy to forget that sometimes we have to stop, and here are my top ten reasons why sometimes it’s completely necessary.

1) Flashing Lights – If you are directed to stop by the police, it would be a strong recommendation from me that you pull over safely. It may be that a light just went out, but we’ve all watched reruns of cop shows and therefore know what happens if it doesn’t stop.

2) Losing something: This covers a wide range of things, from having a wheel go off when you’re speeding down the freeway, to dropping a CD in the car. If the wheel falls off, stop. If your CD falls under the passenger seat and it is absolutely imperative that you listen to your Wham! CD, then stop. Similarly, an article in the news this week, a woman was shaving her bikini line while she was driving and caused a car wreck. Sweater!

3) Flames: I think this is pretty obvious, but if you see flames, stop driving. Unless you want to be part of a human fondue experiment, get out of the car as soon as you can.

4) Smoke – Mainly because it’s usually a precursor to flames, but smoke is usually not a good sign, especially if it’s coming from under the hood.

5) Smells: Okay, it could be the dog or driving past a farm, but if you smell something you haven’t smelled in the car before, like burning or gasoline, stop and take a look. Burning is usually related to flames and smoke, so stop the car!

6) Not being able to see: Whether it’s pouring rain, fog or snow, wipe it off. Many people this year experienced the following problem, after meticulously scraping the snow off the windshield ready to go to work, they got halfway there and the huge chunk slid off the roof, covering the windshield again. Not good if you’re on the M25 on your way to work. Stop and deal with it before you put everyone’s life at risk.

7) Bangs: Okay, so you may have run over the cola bottle that the man in front of you threw out the window, but you may also have blown a tire or lost your engine.

8) Feeling sick: If you don’t feel well, stop driving. You can have a migraine, need to urinate or have something more serious like a heart attack, but the disease is a big cause of accidents in the UK. People crashing into other cars when they don’t have full concentration are terrifying and can lead to loss of life.

9) Drowsiness: Just like when you feel sick, if you are tired, roll down your window for fresh air and pull over as soon as possible. To have a rest. Don’t kill someone.

10) Changes in driving – If your power steering suddenly goes off or your lights start to flash, pull over and check your manual. These are safety features to protect you and you wouldn’t be flashing like Christmas lights unnecessarily.

In general, use your initiative! And it is imperative that you have an Auto Insurance policy in case something goes wrong.