AA tows around the world 16 times in 80 days

AA tows around the world 16 times in 80 days

In 2014, the AA’s towing contractors travelled a whopping combined 2.7 million kilometres, taking into account driving to the job, completing the tow and then returning to base.

That distance represents more than 76 return trips from Auckland to London, nearly four return trips to the moon, 70 times around the planet (around the world every five days, or 16 times in 80) and more than 1300 return journeys between Cape Reinga at the top of the North Island to Bluff at the bottom of the South Island.

During the Christmas and New Year holiday period, one tow operator travelled a massive 998km in a round trip between Queenstown and Christchurch.

However, tows represent a fraction of the AA calls for assistance from Members every year. In 2014, AA Roadservice attended 477,392 jobs, a small increase on the previous year.

Of those, nearly 200,000 were related to battery problems, nearly 70,000 resulted in tows, and about 27,500 out of fuel jobs.

Lockouts represented nearly 38,000 jobs in 2014, but some aren’t all that straight forward. A Wellington AA Roadservice officer learnt that kids and keys should be kept apart when he attended a call with an 11-year-old locked in a car boot, courtesy of his brother. The car doors were also locked.

During the boy’s captivity, the car keys disappeared and the frantic parents called the AA to unlock their car to release him from his unexpected confinement.

AA National Roadservice Manager John Healy says the team of Roadservice officers deal with many quirky jobs over a year which might include cats wedged alongside engines, reluctant to leave and one that unfortunately ended up tangled in engine belts and required surgical removal.

“Our callouts don’t always involve mechanical breakdown, but do mean you’re not going to be going anywhere until the situation is resolved. Our job is to resolve it or advise you how to do it yourself,” Mr Healy says.

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