Broken Down on the A78?
Broken down on the A78? We'll connect you with an available local recovery operator, anywhere on the coast road.
If you're on a live carriageway
- Get the vehicle as far left as you can and put your hazards on.
- Leave by the left-hand doors and get behind the barrier, away from traffic.
- Do not attempt repairs at the roadside on a fast road.
- Call us — and if you are in immediate danger, call 999 first.
The A78 hugs the Ayrshire coast, running from Greenock in the north down through Largs, West Kilbride, the Three Towns, Kilwinning, Irvine and Troon towards Prestwick.
It's a road with a particular set of problems. In places it's pinned between the sea and a wall or a railway, and there's simply nowhere to pull over. In others it's a fast dual carriageway through Irvine. It's busy with tourist traffic in summer, and it takes the weather straight off the Firth of Clyde in winter.
The exposed shoreline stretches get spray, standing water and, in a westerly gale, debris across the carriageway. Salt air corrodes cars, and a lot of the callouts on the coast are battery terminals and seized components rather than anything dramatic.
The ferry terminals at Ardrossan and Largs sit on this road, and cars that have sat in their car parks for a week frequently won't start.
If you break down on a section with no verge, get out on the left if it's safe and get behind whatever barrier there is. Don't stand on the seaward side with your back to the traffic.
Need recovery?
Call us and we'll help arrange it, or send the vehicle details and we'll come back to you.