Help, thank goodness, is still at hand

Tanks will go dry. Keys will be locked inside cars. Breakdown services will always be needed, Áine Flynn reports.

Tanks will go dry. Keys will be locked inside cars. Breakdown services will always be needed, Áine Flynn reports.

Any job that entails a 24-hour call-out service is bound to throw up some sticky situations and strange requests, not least the vehicle recovery and breakdown business.

Veteran operator Derek Behan says the most memorable call he received was from a pregnant woman who was unable to find the hospital while on her way to give birth. "You never know what to expect," he says. "We're more like councillors at two o'clock in the morning," he says. "People have rung me just to get advice about what might be wrong with their car."

Tommy Keane of the AA Patrol says also that no request is too strange and you just don't know what you could be asked when the phone rings. Among the most common reasons for AA calls are punctures, flat batteries and keys locked in cars.

READ MORE

People, especially men, tend to get embarrassed when help arrives, he says: "Maybe it's because they're unable to fix a puncture or simply don't want to get their hands dirty. Sometimes you have to use the stiff upper lip," listening tongue in cheek as they try to explain why they called.

Recently retired Les Coogan has a tale or two to tell. He recalls an incident where someone emerged relatively unscathed after ploughing straight through the gable of a house.

"They hit the accelerator instead of the brake and ended up in the sitting room," he says. Coogan also remembers with amusement being called to Dollymount beach in the early hours of the morning to rescue a couple from an uncompromising position in a parked car that was stuck in the sand.

Amusing stories are plentiful, but Coogan insists that more often than not recovery operators face very distressed and anxious motorists. One needs to exercise some degree of caution. "You can never be sure who you are dealing with," he says. "I've seen junkies' needles stuck down the back of seats."

Hoax calls have always been a headache. Mobile phones and credit cards have gone some way to ease this problem, as few operators will respond to calls without getting relevant details.

"People are very reluctant to go out unless they've been called by the gardaí," says Derek Behan. "You wouldn't put a toe out of bed in the middle of the night unless you're very sure that it isn't a prank call."

Technological innovation has brought widespread change to the industry. Today's intricate, highly specified engines require sophisticated repair equipment.

"It's a major drawback," says Behan. "Each model needs complicated equipment to identify problems. There was a time, 15 or 20 years ago, when there was no job that we couldn't do at the side of the road."

Accordingly, mechanics need high levels of expertise in particular engine areas or body types.

The protocol now is to tow a vehicle back to the garage for inspection, using cumbersome equipment for both the transportation and the inspection.

"This has made it massively expensive for the motoring public," Behan adds. Some operators claim that the average tow would take about two hours at a cost of €250. Others say that a local recovery operation might cost between €65 and €80 during the day and €100 at night. If the vehicle is outside the local area, recovery is usually charged per mile with a price negotiated in advance.

The standard package offered by the AA costs €99 a year and provides 24-hour road-side assistance on open roads throughout Ireland. More comprehensive cover can cost €250 a year with an extra €35 for three other named drivers under the age of 25 on the vehicle.

According to Ron Chawke, a committee member with the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, chronic gridlock in built-up areas places significant time and financial pressure on all recovery operations, big or small.

Commercial strain is also felt by the increasing costs of keeping track of technology - an estimated €70,000 for towing equipment alone. There are also rising insurance premiums and high labour costs.

It's feared that these costs may eventually lead to the demise of the small business operator.

However, tanks will still go dry and keys will still be locked in cars . . . and, despite the technology, engines will stop. As long as that's the case, motorists will need rescue and breakdown services which are ever-ready and ever-willing to answer calls.