Australia: RAC Roadside Service celebrates 90th anniversary

RAC Roadside Assistance marked 90 years of service for Australian motorists last Tuesday.

It all started 90 years ago when two road patrols – HV Mason and RL Stockbridge – equipped with a motorcycle side car and wearing a brand new khaki and blue uniforms, began RAC Roadside Assistance.

RAC Group CEO Terry Agnew said RAC has come a long way since 1926 when the men literally ‘patrolled’ roads around Perth looking for motorists who had broken down.

“In its first week, Roadside Assistance attended to 31 cars across 180 miles. Within the first month, it was decided to install telephones in the patrols’ homes, so that members could reach them after hours,” Agnew said.

The use of motorcycles continued through to the late 1940s, when the RAC fleet began to be replaced by Austin A40 panel vans and smaller Morris Minor cars. By 1957 the breakdown service became available 24 hours a day. Then in the late 1960s, RAC began its long association with the famous Escort van.

“RAC Roadside Assistance is 90 years strong; a great platform on which we can all build RAC’s future with its members,” added Agnew.

RAC currently has more than 800,000 members, and offers a wide range of services that include monitoring, insurance and training.