The value of Emergency Roadside Assistance – Yes
When it comes to roadside assistance the bottom line is it's a little like having certain kinds of insurance; you may pay for it for years and years and may never need it, but that one time that you're on the road someplace and you have a flat or your car breaks down, you're really glad that you do have it.
When I was 19 I found myself stranded on a busy California freeway in rush hour. Long story short, my mom had AAA and once I was able to get the car to the shoulder (from four lanes away) I used one of those call boxes and a tow truck picked me up. The gas gauge in her car was screwy so I didn't realize just how low the gas actually was and fortunately the tow was a short distance so there was no cost incurred for it.
Back in New Orleans and without roadside assistance, I was driving home late one night after my shift as a cocktail waitress and my car stalled in the wrong place to be after dark. I walked about a block or so in this questionable area to locate a pay phone and could get no one to come to help me. I called work and one of my friends agreed to come to my aid once her shift ended. That meant I had to sit in the car, in the dark, in the middle of the night in a neighborhood that was potentially a dangerous place to be and wait for my friend to be able to help me.
While I waited at the intersection a few feet from the signal light, just off the exit ramp of the Pontchartrain expressway, several cars drove by and not one person bothered to stop and see if I was ok. One man did eventually stop and said he thought I had fallen asleep at the wheel. When I explained that no, I hadn't and that my car had stalled he promptly jumped back in his and sped away. My friend finished her shift and not only drove out of her way to give me a jump, she followed me home to be sure that I got there safely.
Another time during the Mardi Gras season in New Orleans I was on the way home kind of late one night after leaving a music venue. Passing through the downtown area to get to my Bywater apartment, the clutch cable broke on my twenty year old Honda Civic wagon. Fortunately I was able to move to the side of the road and park and then I had to hike it to a nearby hotel to find a working pay phone and call AAA. Of course they would only send someone if I was actually at the car so I had to sit in the cold and wait for a bit, but once again someone came to my rescue. The guy was a real piece of work and at one point I thought we would need to call a tow for the tow. He didn't reset his odometer so when we pulled up in front of my apartment he tried to estimate the mileage to be more than he was. Fortunately for me he called in to check and was told we were within the free three mile towing range so once again I didn't have to pay for the tow.
Jumping ahead to more recent times, in post Katrina New Orleans things are challenging enough without having to worry about being stranded someplace so when I lucked out and found a used BMW in good condition at the Bridge House thrift store car lot I quickly signed up again with AAA. I had actually let the membership lapse when one morning I went out to my car and the battery was dead. I had to call my Dad who was not all that happy to interrupt his day and come from way away in another part of town to rescue me. That time it was my own fault for not having replaced the battery when I first got the car. Once I was up and running again I immediately renewed the AAA.
Having roadside assistance has served many of my friends and family members well over the years. The only reason I don't have it currently is that I had a couple financial setbacks in the last year and I am lucky to have a good mechanic who can usually come to me fairly quickly if I have a real emergency. I am also lucky to be driving a car I seldom have problems with.
