Of course, the best advice about driving in a hailstorm is “don’t.”

But sometimes it’s unavoidable. What should you do if you drive into a hailstorm? Experts agree your best bet is to pull off the road and find shelter.

Hail can vary in size from small pebbles to ice balls large enough to collapse a car’s roof. Since you can’t be sure how severe a storm will become, be cautious and park your car somewhere out of the hail, like under a gas station overhang.

Think safety

This isn’t just to protect your car. It’s also to protect you. Hail can shatter windows, pockmark siding and pummel vehicles. It can cause nasty injuries. That’s also why you don’t leave your vehicle in the middle of a hailstorm.

To make matters worse, hail often signals more severe weather, like tornadoes, is on its way. If that happens, the hail itself might be the least of your worries.

Severe hail

If large hail falls, pull over. But if there’s no shelter, there are a couple things you should do:

1. Angle your car so that the hail hits your windshield from the front. Windshields are better designed to take impacts from that angle.

2. Cover your eyes with a jacket or blanket in case windows shatter. If you have children in the vehicle with you, cover them with a jacket, blanket or your body.

After the storm

Contact your insurance company to let them know your vehicle was damaged in a hail storm. Then head to Great Plains Auto Body to restore it to its pre-storm condition.