| WIKI | FAQ | Tech FAQ | |
 http://csua.com/feed/ | |
| ||||||
| 4/3 |
| 2004/3/3-5 [Transportation/Car/RoadHogs, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:12497 Activity:nil |
3/3 Is there an alternative to AAA for roadside assistance coverage that
doesn't lobby the state to build more freeways? I want the towing,
I don't like AAA's political agenda. Thanks.
\_ 21st Century includes towing with their insurance. Others might.
\_ I have towing with Amica but the service sucks hard compared to
AAA. Waits typically three times as long and sulry second rate
service from whoever eventually shows up. -- ulysses
\_ I have never heard of this, do they want more highway
maintenance, or more freeways? Where can you build more freeways
in california? are you talking about private toll roads?
\_ My aunt works for them, and she's mentioned some stuff like this.
http://betterworldclub.com/memberbenefits/AAA/AAA_record.htm
http://betterworldclub.com/newsroom/articles/Harpers_May2002.htm
It's not terrible stuff they do, they're not Enron-- more like
AARP, selling out but trying to maintain a good rep.
\_ How does the roadside (car) asssistance plan compare to AAA
in terms of service quality?
\_ The RAC but you have to wear a coat and tie to get into the
clubhouse. -John
\_ Most car dealerships offer roadside assistance programs with their
cars. Also, many insurance companies offer it with their coverage.
\_ 9 out of 10 times it's subcontracted through AAA
\_ http://www.betterworldclub.com
Endorsed by Car Talk.
\_ I thought AAA is better than other insurance provider because it's
non-profit.
\_ Actually, I've heard from a couple of folks that AAA insurance
sucked, especially given how expensive it is. Low quality service
following an actual accident was the complaint in both cases.
BTW, Amica being a "mutual insurance company" is also not-for-
profit.
\_ the part of AAA doing roadside assistance is different than the
insurance part. |
| 4/3 |
|
| betterworldclub.com/memberbenefits/AAA/AAA_record.htm Sure, driving is a reality in this country-but does that mean: You have to oppose mass transit funding This has been AAAs position pretty much since the opening of the Disney monorail. In its internal Public Relations and Publicity Manual, AAA advised its local clubs how to prevent diversion of highway funding for mass transit. Environmentalists challenge AAAs conclusions Daniel Becker, director of the Sierra Clubs global warming and energy program said in a statement, It sounds like AAA has been breathing too much smog. A third of the nations smog and 20 percent of the nations global warming pollution spew out of Americas tailpipes. With asthmatic children being hospitalized at an ever increasing rate, it is foolhardy and callous for AAA to imply that now is the time to let up on auto pollution. The EPA did not challenge AAAs numbers, but a spokesman for the agency said the groups conclusions may be shortsighted. The agency is committed to reducing emissions from all sources, according to EPA spokesman Dave Cohen. Letting motor vehicles off the hook for their past performance is not a useful way of combating air pollution. AAA position-ISTEA Legislation-1991 The bicycle community considers AAA to be anti-bicycle. Rails to Trails was astonished to find AAA opposing the conversion of certain rail right-of-ways to bicycle paths in the early 90s. Is the comment of one of many cyclists on just one bicycle mail serve website. Tom and Ray Magliozzi, cohosts of the radio show Car Talk, have accused the American Automobile Associations Foundation for Traffic Safety of issuing a misleading press release on the effects of cell phone use and driving safety. A press release that garnered extensive national media attention for its surprising results is based on flawed research and is a gross misrepresentation of reality, according to the Magliozzis. Wed like a retraction and an apology from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. Just because your battery dies, do you need to associate yourself with this policy agenda? Do you want to affiliate yourself with those who are A ntiquated and A ctively A nti-environment ? |
| betterworldclub.com/newsroom/articles/Harpers_May2002.htm Had I found myself incarcerated by a small-town sheriff, the club would even have paid my bond. Among the nations lawmakers, though, AAA is better known for its political clout, cultivated with millions of dollars of its members annual dues. Drivers clutching this card as a talisman against automotive calamity should know that, in doing so, they lend support to an agenda-in favor of road building, against pollution control and even auto-safety measures-that helps deepen the automotive calamity afflicting the nation as a whole. AAA began as a federation of nine regional auto clubs in 1902, when horses outnumbered cars as a means of transportation by 17 million to 23,000. The club, as a member of the nascent good roads campaign, won its first legislative victories in Oregon, which, in 1917, passed the nations first vehicle tax-after C. Chapman, chief sponsor of the tax, ensured support by drawing a map that diverted a proposed highway to service the farmhouses of dozens of his senate colleagues-and, in 1919, the first gasoline tax, the revenues from both of which were set aside for improving roads. By 1929 all forty-eight states had enacted gas taxes, collectively raising $300 million for road building each year. In the 1950s, AAA joined Detroit automakers-along with the Asphalt Institute and the American Concrete Pavement Association-to help win approval for the Eisenhower interstate-highway system, an astonishing 41,000 miles of fresh roadway servicing more than 90 percent of congressional districts. Today, AAA encompasses eighty-one regional clubs throughout the Untied States and Canada. Together these clubs collect billions of dollars in fees and annual dues, from which they generously fund national political action through a fifteen-person Washington office. AAAs governing board is not directly elected, and its political activities are carried out with little or no oversight from members. A frequent target of the groups Washington office has been federal environmental laws. In 1999, AAA opposed new rules that required cleaner-burning exhaust systems for cars, trucks, and SUVs, and two years prior assailed an EPA proposal requiring states to reduce levels of smog and soot. In 1990, AAA even fought the strengthening of the Clean Air Act - a measure supported by three fourths of Americans - on the grounds that it would limit the personal mobility of motorists. AAA supports the widening of Virginias Interstate 66 and the construction of a new bridge over the Potomac, two measures opposed by environmental and community groups. The club spent years battling stricter vehicle-emissions standards in Maryland, whose air, because of emissions and pollution from states upwind, is among the nations worst. In March, AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman Lon Anderson a former spokesman of the Beer Institute testified in favor of a bill that allows private companies to build roads, and makes no provision for public review or oversight. They always get up and say they are speaking on behalf of their millions of members, notes Dru Schmidt-Perkins, the director of a state smart growth advocacy group. Politically, the main emergency assistance AAA supplies is to its allies in big business, who piggyback on the clubs wholesome, noncontroversial image. After one legislative victory, a representative of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association told the National Journal that AAAs support demonstrated that the coalition included consumers as well as businesses and contractors. Along with most major oil companies and automakers, AAA belongs to the American Highway Users Alliance, a lobbying group that claims building more roads will actually improve air quality: Cars stuck in traffic waste fuel, it notes, and emit more pollution than cars that are moving freely. This year, the federal government will spend four times as much on highway construction as it will on mass transit, perpetuating an approach to traffic congestion that one anti-sprawl activist aptly compares to trying to cure obesity by loosening your belt. Few organizations have done more in the past century to advance this disastrous cycle than has AAA, though the group is understandably reluctant to advertise the fact. In the Mid-Atlantic clubs 2001 annual report, a four-paragraph synopsis of the clubs Public Affairs activity include no mention of the groups lobbying on roads projects or emissions standards, and instead focuses exclusively on its safety initiatives. If AAAs members knew just how much politicking their dues paid for - and just what that politicking aimed to accomplish - then perhaps more of them would, like me, drive solo. |
| www.betterworldclub.com -> www.betterworldclub.com/ We had no idea that part of our AAA dues were being spent on lobbyists who op-pose just about everything having to do with public trans-portation. If AAA thinks that its a good idea for every single person to get to work in 3000 pounds of iron, we sure dont want to help support such a silly idea. We are the only roadside assistance and travel club that strives to balance your transportation needs with your desire to protect the environment. We pledge to donate an amount equal to 1 of annual revenues toward environmental clean-up efforts and we provide unique eco-friendly travel alternatives like discounts on hybrid car rentals . And remember, we guarantee your service or your membership is on us . |