What to do when your car breaks down on I-75 in Toledo

Get out of the travel lanes, then make the car visible

If you get any warning, such as a dashboard light, a shudder or a loss of power, use it to move right while the car still has speed.

1. Signal and steer right. Aim for the right shoulder or, if the car is still rolling well, the next exit ramp. If the engine dies, the steering and brakes get heavy but still work. Ohio’s driver handbook says to keep a firm grip, brake with steady pressure and pull off the roadway (Digest of Ohio Motor Vehicle Laws, Section 10).
2. Get as far off the pavement as you safely can. Outside business and residence districts, Ohio law says you may not stop on the traveled part of a highway when it is practicable to stop off it, and a stopped vehicle must leave a clear lane and be visible from 200 feet each way. The rule does not apply when a breakdown makes stopping in the lane unavoidable (ORC 4511.66).
3. Turn on your hazard lights. If you carry flares or reflective triangles and can set them out without walking in traffic, the state handbook suggests placing them about 200 to 300 feet behind the car.
4. Decide whether to stay in the car (see the box below).
5. Call for help, then arrange the tow.

Call 911 or #677?

ODOT’s Freeway Safety Patrol page puts it simply: 911 for immediate emergencies, #677 for non-emergency help from the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The Patrol’s Help Center also lists (614) 466-2660.

Make the safety call first. Once you are out of the lanes and the right agency knows where you are, you can call a towing provider yourself.

How to tell someone exactly where you are on I-75

“I’m on I-75 in Toledo” could mean anywhere from Exit 192 to Exit 210. A dispatcher or trooper needs four things:

• Direction: northbound (toward Detroit) or southbound (toward Perrysburg).
• The last exit you passed and the number on the next exit sign ahead.
• The nearest mile-marker post on the shoulder, if you can read one from the car.
• A landmark: the DiSalle Bridge over the Maumee River, the I-475 split, the I-280 split, the Jeep plant at Jeep Pkwy, the Toledo Zoo exit.

If your phone can share your location or drop a map pin, send it as well. It removes any doubt about which side of the highway you are on.

These are the Toledo-area exits from south to north, as listed in the published I-75 exit list. Use whatever the green sign in front of you says if it differs.

What the ODOT Freeway Safety Patrol does in Toledo

Toledo has an ODOT Freeway Safety Patrol, a free program sponsored by GEICO. Its listed services are changing flat tires, fixing minor mechanical problems, providing small amounts of fuel, clearing debris at crash scenes and giving emergency medical help. The drivers are not GEICO employees and do not handle insurance claims. Towing is not on the list.

In Toledo the patrol runs Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., on these routes:

• I-75 from SR-582 to I-475, and from I-475 to SR-184 (Alexis Rd)
• I-475 from I-75 south to I-75 north
• I-280 from SR-795 to I-75
• US-23 from I-475 to SR-184

At night, on weekends, or when the car needs to be towed rather than fixed on the spot, you will need a towing or roadside assistance provider.

When police can move your car

You may not get to decide when the car leaves the highway:

• After a crash, a police officer, trooper, sheriff or fire chief may remove, or order removed, an unoccupied vehicle that blocks the road or endangers public safety. That needs the investigating agency’s approval but not the owner’s consent (ORC 4513.66).
• If the car obstructs traffic, police may order it into storage right away. A car left on a highway right-of-way for 48 hours or longer, without the owner telling the agency why, can also be ordered towed. The owner then pays the removal and storage charges to get it back (ORC 4513.61).

If you have to leave the car on the shoulder, tell the Highway Patrol at #677 and arrange a tow as soon as you can. If it has already gone, our guide to finding a towed car in Toledo explains where to look.

Ohio’s Move Over law: what it covers, and what it doesn’t

Ohio’s Move Over law requires drivers approaching certain stopped vehicles with flashing lights to move to a lane that is not next to them when it is safe, or else slow down. The list includes police and emergency vehicles, highway maintenance vehicles and road service vehicles, a term Ohio defines to include wreckers (ORC 4511.01). So once a tow truck is working on your car with its lights on, passing drivers have to give it room.

A private car sitting on the shoulder with only its hazards on is not covered yet. Senate Bill 16, which would extend the law to any stationary vehicle in distress, passed the Senate in October 2025 and was still in the House Transportation Committee as of October 14, 2026. Until it becomes law, do not count on traffic moving over for you. That is one more reason to stay buckled in.

At the Turnpike interchange (Exit 195)

I-75 Exit 195 connects to the Ohio Turnpike (I-80/I-90) and SR-795. The Turnpike numbers the same interchange Exit 64, Perrysburg–Toledo.

While you are still on I-75, everything above applies. Once you are on the Turnpike, its own rules take over: only a Turnpike contract garage may tow a disabled passenger car off, to the nearest exit (OAC 5537-3-01), and help comes through #677. If you stop somewhere on the ramps between the two and are not sure whose road you are on, say “I-75 Exit 195, on the Turnpike ramp” when you call #677. Our Ohio Turnpike breakdown guide covers what happens next.

I-475 and I-280: same steps, different landmarks

The steps and phone numbers are the same on Toledo’s other interstates. Only the landmarks change.

• I-475 / US-23 is a 20-mile loop around the west and north sides of the city, from I-75 Exit 192 near Perrysburg to I-75 Exit 204 in central Toledo. Useful exits to name: 4 (US-24, Anthony Wayne Trail, Maumee), 6 (Ohio Turnpike / Salisbury Rd), 8 (SR-2, Airport Hwy), 13 (US-20, Central Ave), 14 (US-23 north), 17 (Secor Rd) and 18A (SR-51, Monroe St). The Freeway Safety Patrol covers the whole loop on weekdays. A provider serving Maumee or Perrysburg may be closest at the south end.
• I-280 runs about 12 miles from Turnpike Exit 71 through Northwood and Oregon to I-75 at Exit 208. It crosses the Maumee on the Veterans’ Glass City Skyway, where ice can fall from the bridge cables in freezing rain and lanes have been closed because of it (background). If you stop on the Skyway, there is nowhere to walk to: stay buckled in and call 911 if you are blocking a lane.

Getting a tow off I-75

Once you are safe and the Patrol or police know where you are, call (419) 329-4502 and your request goes to a local towing provider. Give the same location details, plus the year, make and model, and say if the car is all-wheel drive, four-wheel drive or electric. Those usually need a flatbed tow.

The tow operator will confirm the price and an arrival estimate before hooking up. Arrival depends on where the nearest truck is, traffic, weather, the time of day and whether police have lanes closed. If the car was in a crash, see accident recovery and what to do after a car accident in Toledo. For everything a dispatcher will ask, see what to tell a tow truck dispatcher, or send a request if you are already off the highway. More on emergency towing in Toledo.