The Automobile Association’s History Part 2
The AA launched successful campaigns including making it compulsory for motorists to wear seatbelts, and also the possibility of using lead-free petrol.
The AA launched their breakdown and recovery service in 1949. It started out in London and then spread to most of the UK. They introduced their AA Insurance brokerage service in 1967. Today, this service is the United Kingdom’s biggest motor insurance company.
The AA Roadwatch came to life in 1973, and they started broadcasting traffic news and alerts on UK radio stations. Today, AA Roadwatch is the largest traffic information broadcaster in Europe.
Seat belt legislation was introduced in the UK in 1983. A few years later in 1985, AA Relay was inaugurated, a service that helps deliver broken-down vehicles as well as drivers and passengers to anywhere in the UK. It wasn’t long before the AA Driving School followed in 1990 with a staff base of 2050 professional driving instructors.
When last recorded in 1994, the AA’s membership was counted as eight million. It is thought that that there are over twelve million members today. It didn’t do as well in 1998 when it had to close more than 140 of its high street insurance and product shops. It was then demutualised and sold to Centrica, the owner of British Gas. Registered members were paid more than a hundred pounds each.
The new AA Motoring Trust was established in 2002 in order to take on the non-commercial aspects of the AA.
