In the days before cellphones...

We’d rope the nearest dinosaur and ride it to the police station

People called the police from a landline

There were a lot of pay phones around...and people would stop if you flagged them down on the highway and would exit to find a police officer or call from a nearby pay phone.
Between pay phones and a friendlier atmosphere, you found a way to get help...but it might take a while longer.

People are supposed to stop when they see an accident. Happens all the time. it was a good system. Of course if they ran over a guy on a bicycle, that was a different story.

In the UK along the main motorways there are yellow phones which people used if they had an accident or broke down. Still can.

Once my car was over heating. I just walked to the closest house and got some water. I had a water jug in the trunk of the water.

somebody would say "I'll call for help" and stop at a "pay phone" (you may have to google that)

I remember breaking down on the M1 one night. We used the emergency phones along the motorway, but didn't want to pay the recovery fee. We climbed over a hedge, walked across a field, then down a lane till we found a house. Somebody did answer the door, even at 3am. They let ond of us in to make a phone call, but had a shotgun pointed at him the whole time. He couldn't get through to anyone, so we had to make the return journey across the fields, and pay the recovery fee. No trouble really.

There’s been radio telephones for along time. And then there was CB radio. Worked for me.

If u end up in a car accident, and your phone breaks….

Run to the nearest store warehouse desperately pounding on the door to call 911 or if you were lucky 911 from a payphone. Either that or you’d flagged down someone nearby and they go run somewhere in their car to call 911.

Flag down a passing motorist, or walk to the closest house.

Get help from Passers-by

Stand in the road until someone drives by