Breakdown on I-195 in New Bedford: What to Do and Who to Call

Published 25 September 2026

Calls from the shoulder of I-195 in New Bedford have a shape, and the first minute decides how the rest goes. The driver with the car far right, hazards on and the exit number ready gets a truck to the right spot. The driver standing behind the trunk, unsure whether that was exit 26 or 27, is in more danger than the breakdown put them in.

Here is what we tell people on that call: where to stop, how to read the exits between Route 140 and the Acushnet River bridge, who answers out there, and what our dispatcher needs before a truck rolls.

The moment the engine stumbles or a tire lets go, get as far onto the right shoulder as the car will carry you and put the hazard lights on. If the car dies in a travel lane and will not move, the rule flips: get everyone out and off the road, because a stopped car in a live lane is the one place where waiting inside is the worse choice.

On the shoulder, stay in the car with your seat belt fastened. A belt and airbags protect you if the car is struck; a person standing beside it has neither. AAA's count, as of 2021, was more than 1,600 people struck and killed outside a disabled vehicle since 2015. If you must get out - a fuel smell, smoke - use the passenger side, get beyond the guardrail, and put at least 40 feet between you and the car. Never stand behind it or in front of it.

Flares or reflective triangles, if you carry them, go about 100 feet behind the car. Leave it in park with the parking brake on, not in neutral; a car that can roll is a hazard to everyone at the scene.

New Bedford's stretch of I-195 packs five exits into less than two miles, three of them one-direction only. Their numbers have been mileage-based since the renumbering MassDOT began in late 2020, so the last exit sign you passed is close to your mile marker; the old numbers, 13 through 18, still turn up in older directions.

Eastbound past exit 27 there is no New Bedford exit left; the next way off is exit 29 in Fairhaven. Westbound, just over the river, you meet 28, then 26, then 24. The mile marker posts along the shoulder settle any doubt.

• Exit 24A/B - Route 140, the first New Bedford exit from Dartmouth, near milepost 23.8. Both directions.
• Exit 25 - Penniman Street. Eastbound only.
• Exit 26 - Route 18 south and downtown. The westbound exit to Route 18 south and the westbound on-ramp from Route 18 are closed until summer 2027 for the interchange rebuild.
• Exit 27 - Washburn Street. Eastbound only.
• Exit 28 - Coggeshall Street. Westbound only, and the last exit before the Acushnet River bridge.
• Exit 29 - Route 240 in Fairhaven, the first exit across the river, near milepost 27.3.

I-195 through New Bedford is State Police road: the Dartmouth barracks on Faunce Corner Road covers 31 miles of it, from Mattapoisett to the Rhode Island line, and answers around the clock at (508) 993-8373. Call 911 first if anyone is hurt or the car is in a lane; the barracks line is for a car safely on the shoulder that you want a trooper to know about.

Do not wait for a MassDOT courtesy truck: the Highway Assistance Program's patrols run in Metro Boston, Worcester, Springfield and, in season, Cape Cod, plus the Mass Pike, and New Bedford's stretch of I-195 is not on that list. Out here, help is the State Police or the tow company you call.

Who orders the tow matters to the bill. If a trooper finds a car blocking a lane, or a driver who cannot make the call, the truck comes from the State Police tow list for the zone, which on I-195 runs from the New Bedford town line east to exit 31A, at the state-capped rate for a police-ordered tow: under 220 CMR 272.03, $132 for the first five miles and $4.40 a mile after. A car safely on the shoulder with nobody hurt is yours to move, and you pick the company.

When you reach our New Bedford towing dispatch, we ask six things in the same order: the first three place you, the last three pick the truck and set the quote.

Have them ready and the call is short.

• Direction and exit. Eastbound toward Fairhaven and the Cape or westbound toward Dartmouth and Providence, and the last exit you passed.
• Mile marker. The nearest one you can read from your seat; do not walk to find it.
• Shoulder or lane. Whether the car is fully off the travel lanes and whether anyone is hurt; a lane or an injury means 911 first.
• The vehicle. Make, model, color and plate.
• Drivetrain and condition. All-wheel drive, electric or hybrid rides on a flatbed, and so does a car that will not roll or steer.
• Where it is going. Your mechanic, a dealer or your driveway; the destination sets the mileage, and mileage is most of the quote.

From those answers we quote one total for an emergency tow when the car dies on the interstate - hook-up, mileage, any winching - and an arrival window, before the truck moves; the quote is the bill unless the scene differs from the one described.

Our truck stops behind you, lights on, angled to put steel between traffic and the car. From that moment M.G.L. c. 89, § 7C applies: a driver approaching a stationary recovery vehicle with flashing lights must slow to a reasonable and safe speed and, on a road with at least four lanes and two in their direction, move over a lane when practicable. The law names emergency response, highway maintenance and recovery vehicles; a disabled car with its hazards on is not on the list.

Do not step out as the truck arrives; drivers closing on the scene watch the truck, not a door opening beside it. The operator will come to you, confirm the destination and show you where to stand during loading - ahead of the truck, off the shoulder, never between the two vehicles. AAA counts an average of 24 roadside responders struck and killed each year, so if the operator asks you to move, move.