Timing belt broke and left me coasting with a stalled engine on down clover-leaf on/off-ramp. With the last moment of motion, I maneuvered the vehicle up on the inside curve shoulder. Due to the dangerous location of the vehicle's coming to rest, I called 9-1-1 and requested a tow. Within 30 minutes a State trooper and tow truck arrived and pulled us from the scene.

Learned the 1995 Mercury Tracer has a Honda engine for power, and with it comes the one flaw common to Honda's — the timing belt popping and destroying the engine. Ended up spending the night in a hotel, then cleaning out the car and signing it over to be junked since the $700.00 repair estimate was a gamble on whether it would truly be back on the road.