AAA's failure to show could have been fatal

Hello Jason,
I am from AAA National Member Relations. I apologize for negative
experience your family had while waiting for AAA emergency road
service. If you would allow me the opportunity to lodge a formal
concern with the AAA Club, I would very much appreciate the chance to
restore your faith and trust in AAA. If you could please provide me
with your membership number, location and date of incident, I will
look into this right away. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Justin S.
Please email to: memberrelations@national.aaa.com

thats why I use allstate roadside assistance, their local contacts are
not as big as AAA but if you are in a dangerous situation, they get
there asap... that is one of the first questions THEY ask you....

although you have every right to be upset at the wait time.... they
are not responsible for the actions of the other drivers on the road.


technically, even 5 minutes after your accident one of those drivers
could have injured you but it wouldn't be AAA's fault.


Where I live now, it's actually a law that you have to move to the
other lane when there's an emergency vehicle on the side of the road.
Most of us also do it for drivers who are waiting for emergency
vehicles.

It's a shame the other drivers you saw that night didn't think the
same way.


Although if I were extremely worried about being hit... I would have
personally (weather dependent) gotten out of the car to wait further
to the side.

AAA Mid Atlantic's leadership more than likely does not care. If they
did, they would have corrected a program handled by Sterling research
group in Florida to refelct correct numbers as well as identified the
towers who were not showing up, or had faulty equipment, etc. Feel
fortunate a situation like has happened in Pennsylvania when a AAA
member called AAA to help lead to the AAAmembers life being ended. It
was a terrible event. If there paperwork process was accurate, this
and many other towers who should not be towing would have been removed
before such a terrible incident happened. Here In Va. they kept towers
on their list after they had threatened members well being, ran over
them, etc and their fake bonus plan did not identify these towers...
the good towers who did all the right things were tossed from their
lists due to their own poor paperwork. You are just as well off or
even better to just call your insurance company or find a alternative
than trust AAA for service. Ask me, I know first hand.

I can get discounted movie tix with my AAA plus membership - holy
smokes - awesome! thanks for the tip!!

I bet that when the tow truck showed up, the driver would have called
911 (or a nonemergency police number) to get some assistance. given
the description of the breakdown's location, some traffic control
would be warranted.

Um, hello. POLICE? 911? That's their job.

This definitely sounds like a situation for calling 911 -- mainly so
the police could intervene while you get towed and make the whole
thing safer for everyone: Your family and other drivers as well.

Just because an officer passes by you and doesn't stop or doesn't
respond as quickly as you think they should doesn't mean they are not
doing their job affectively. I know first hand that officers can be
tied up on other priority events that keep them from responding to
others that come in. You have no idea why an officer just passed you.
They could be responding to a more urgent call such as a car accident
with people trapped or suicidal person. They don't always go lights
and sirens. I have had on numerous occasions an officer call to notify
me of an accident or disabled vehicle where assistance may be needed
and they are unable to help. Or there is a possibility they were
coming out to help but then got dispatched to a person with a gun or
armed robbery. You have no idea. And just because it is not in the
news doesn't mean it didn't happen. As for AAA I personally do not use
them but do know that they go through local tow companies to service
their customers. If that tow company has other people to help then the
fault of them not responding in a time you feel appropriate lies with
them. AAA does not have their own fleet of tow trucks just for their
customers.

The real reason AAA has lost so many customers is because they do
things such as this all the time, all over North America. A few years
ago a young woman in New England contacted AAA when her car was
damaged in a minor accident. Three hours passed and still no AAA. At
some point, a car stopped and the driver asked if she needed help. The
woman explained she had contacted AAA and still awaiting their help.
The other driver – a man – exited his car and somewhere in the course
of things, raped and murdered the young woman. No one suggests AAA is
responsible for the crime; however, to many, their failure to respond
in a reasonable amount of time contributed to the woman’s
vulnerability.

I travel a great deal as part of my work, much of the time by car. I
finally canceled my AAA membership after the fifth time they left me
stranded. Twice they failed to respond when I experienced mechanical
failures, once they refused to respond because the car I was riding in
did not belong to me – despite their premium policy stating your
membership covers any car in which you are riding. The fifth and final
straw was when a AAA in another region of the country refused to honor
my AAA card from my home area. Attempting to deal with AAA management
in order to resolve any issue is hopelessly complicated and fraught
with rude and incompetent people. Thankfully, I now carry roadside
service, including tow service, from another company that has proven
to be much more reliable and competent, as well as much more
responsive.

Why dont you just piggy back it on your cell phone service. I think
its like 5 bucks a month for roadside assistance.

I dont know anyone that has AAA anymore, they are quite archaic and
expensive.


good day

Wow, everyone is jumping to conclusions and jumping on my case. I did
not put in my letter about the police because this ia a AAA matter,
not a police one which is a totally different issue (and who fights
the police anyways and then gets flagged for life).

The call was placed to AAA first in order to get the tow truck to us
quicker because I know they do not drop everything for everyone,
however in the situation we were in, some prioritization needs to take
place. The operator even informed us that it would be given priority
due to the dangerous nature of the situation.

The second call was made to the local police, which also did not
respond within the 2 hours. This includes a police car that just
passed by our car without slowing down or checking to see if everyone
was ok even though I put the four way flashers on and also had the
hood lifted.

I could not get my family to anywhere safer. If you read my letter, it
says it happened at a split in the highway, which has multiple lanes
on one side and multiple lanes on another. There is no way were are
going to run across a highway like chicken trying to cross the road.
It was December, i.e. freezing, in New Jersey, so my family was not
going to be subjected to standing outside. Safest was in the car. And
there were no shoulders because they were filled with snow of prior
snowstorms that had not melted.

Safety of the other motorists? Really? The ones illegally speeding?
The ones who don't slow down or change lanes when they see a disabled
vehicle?

Why is everyone more intent on picking apart my argument than the
safety of other human beings? I'd love for each and every one of you
to be put in a similar situation and see how clearly you can think
while in the given situation, and not in the safe confines behind your
computer. I did the best that could be done given the
situation....there is no "you could have" or "you should have". Only
the pertinant details were given in the AAA letter, and anything else
that they wish to bring up would be discussed when they contact me.

You are unfairly placing the blame on AAA. You should of called 911
and had the highway patrol/state police respond. They would of called
a tow truck which would of responded within 15-20 minutes. When
something like this happens, you don't call your insurance first, you
call 911. I hate to be the one to say it, but your wife & son's lives
were not the only ones in danger! What about the other driver's who
had to swerve around your car while it sat in what you claim is a
danger area, for 2 hours?

In my city if you get into an accident, the police will call a AAA
provider if they know that you are a AAA member.

Car trouble and striking a piece of metal are not the same thing. Road
side assistance is essentially road side assistance. It's intended to
provide service when you lock your keys in your car, need a jump
start, run out of gas, get a flat tire, off road recovery when your
car gets stuck in mud or snow (not all road side assistance's pay for
recoveries). Most road side assistance programs DO NOT cover car
accident's. I am not sure how AAA works, but I do know that you
coverage based on the plan you sign up for.

Bottom line: when you are involved in accident, call 911 FIRST and
then your insurance! Better yet, wait until you are safe home to call
your insurance. Do you realize how many people survive initial car
accidents only to be struck & killed in a second collision because
they chose to stay in their car or get out and walk around? Call 911
first and if your in a bad area, move to a safe place!!

As a AAA memeber I know I get towing BUT AAA is designed to aid broken
down cars. My understanding is it is not an emergency service. Meaning
that the towing service does NOT drop everything, i.e. other tows, and
races to the scene.

Some questions-
If your families safety was so important why did you wait 2HOURS?

Why did your family not move to the side of the road instead of
staying in the "island?"
If it was because the traffic was to heavy to cross the road... well
that leads to may next question. WHY was the police not called. Back
to crossong the road if you had the time to push the car off the road
you should have had time to cross the road. If the weather was cold
was there no other place other than the car to take shelter?

You said it was an accident and even though it wasn't another vehicle
it should have been reported. If nothing else, the huge piece of
metal would have been a hazard to other drivers. But the police could
have assisted you in getting to a safer area.
I didn't even know that AAA dealt with accidents on highways. You
learn something every day.