This happened to me yesterday but in a good way. I was in an unfamiliar city. Suddenly a horrible squeal started coming from my engine and smoke started coming out. I lost all power steering and the car was hard to control. I was able to get it safely to the side of the highway on ramp and shut it down. Called my insurance company for roadside assistance but got the run around. I took a chance at calling some random local towing company. They dude shows up and evaluated the situation. Serpentine belt had disintegrated. I asked if he know a mechanic that will work on short notice and he said he'd just tow it to his shop because he thinks its a simple fix. After some trial and error he had figured out my power steering pump had gone bad. So 2nd trip to the local auto parts shop and 2.5 hours later I was back on the road. The dude went above and beyond to help me out without overcharging me "highway robbery" prices. I added a nice tip onto the full bill and thanked him profusely. Just wanted to give an example of the good people still out in the world.