Roadside assistance records show a large, provider-specific service landscape. AAA reported more than 27 million U.S. emergency roadside-service calls in 2024, while ADAC recorded 3,531,058 breakdown-assistance deployments in Germany in 2023; the figures below keep each provider, geography, period and definition explicit.
Key Roadside Assistance Statistics
The most useful figures span service volume, breakdown causes, outcomes, electric vehicles and driver intentions:
- In 2024, AAA received more than 27 million emergency roadside-service calls in the United States.
- In 2023, ADAC completed 3,531,058 breakdown-assistance deployments in Germany.
- In 2024, roughly 13 million of AAA’s U.S. calls involved towing.
- In 2024, approximately 7 million AAA U.S. calls involved battery issues.
- In 2024, towing and battery incidents represented roughly 74% of AAA’s U.S. roadside-service calls.
- In 2023, battery failure represented 44.1% of ADAC breakdowns in Germany.
- In 2023, motor or engine-management problems represented 22.8% of ADAC breakdowns in Germany.
- In 2023, tire failures represented 8.8% of ADAC breakdowns in Germany.
- In 2021, battery problems represented 46.2% of 3.49 million evaluated ADAC breakdowns in Germany.
- In 2021, the average self-caused share of battery breakdowns was 14% in ADAC’s market analysis.
- In 2014, AAA delivered gasoline to more than half a million vehicles in the United States.
- In the period before its August 2017 report, RAC’s average roadside fix time was 30 minutes in the United Kingdom.
- In 2024, AAA received an estimated 215,000 U.S. electric-vehicle service calls.
- In 2022, only 2.1% of AAA’s U.S. battery-electric-vehicle roadside events involved a vehicle out of charge.
- In 2022, ADAC recorded 52,000 roadside events for stranded electric and hybrid vehicles in Germany.
- In a 2024 United Kingdom AA survey, 95% said they would call a breakdown provider after breaking down on a country road.
Contents
- Roadside assistance service-call scale and regional trends
- Roadside breakdown causes and vehicle systems
- Battery failures and maintenance behavior
- Towing, fuel delivery and roadside outcomes
- Electric-vehicle roadside assistance and charging events
- Driver response and breakdown-assistance adoption
Roadside Assistance Service-Call Scale and Regional Trends
Provider records show how much roadside work is handled in distinct markets, but they are not complete national totals. AAA, RAC and ADAC figures describe their own service networks.
| Provider and geography | Period | Reported scale |
|---|---|---|
| AAA, United States | 2024 | More than 27 million emergency roadside-service calls |
| AAA, United States | 2014 | More than 29 million roadside-assistance calls |
| ADAC, Germany | 2023 | 3,531,058 deployments |
| ADAC, Germany | 2022 | 3,413,488 deployments |
| RAC, United Kingdom | Prior year to August 2017 | 2.2 million breakdown attendances |
Sources: AAA 2024 service-call report, AAA 2014 breakdown report, ADAC Pannenstatistik 2024, and RAC customer-service report.
ADAC said its German deployment count was 3.4% higher in 2023 than in 2022. In the Hesse and Thuringia region, ADAC organized 323,284 deployments in 2022, an average of 886 per day, compared with 326,398 deployments in 2021.
The RAC reported more than 8 million members and operated 1,500 patrols in 2017. These membership and patrol counts describe the company’s organization, not unique roadside users or the entire United Kingdom market.
Roadside Breakdown Causes and Vehicle-System Data
ADAC’s 2023 German breakdown records show battery and engine-related issues leading its categorized causes. The categories are ADAC’s own and should not be combined arithmetically with AAA categories.
| ADAC breakdown category | Share in Germany, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Battery failure | 44.1% |
| Motor or engine management | 22.8% |
| Generator, starter, onboard network and lighting | 10.5% |
| Tire failure | 8.8% |
| Locking-system failure | 7.1% |
Source: ADAC Pannenstatistik 2024.
AAA’s U.S. 2024 records use a different grouping. Towing represented roughly 13 million calls, battery issues approximately 7 million calls, and AAA described those two incident groups together as roughly 74% of its calls.
The earlier AAA report grouped battery failure, flat tires and locked-in keys into 17 million calls in 2014. It also reported more than 12 million annual calls for engine trouble, fuel issues and other mechanical mishaps, showing why categories and measurement years matter when comparing providers.
ADAC’s Hesse and Thuringia breakdowns in 2022 included motor and engine-management problems at 23.8%, while generator, starter, onboard-network and lighting failures represented 10.4%. Those are regional shares, not German national estimates.
Battery Failures, Roadside Assistance and Maintenance Behavior
Battery problems recur across the ADAC time series. They represented 41.8% of ADAC breakdowns in 2019, 46.3% in 2020 and 46.2% of 3.49 million evaluated breakdowns in 2021.
Source: ADAC battery breakdown analysis.
ADAC’s 2021 reliability analysis covered 132 vehicle series from 22 brands, with eligibility requiring qualifying sales and vehicles aged 3–10 years. Its average self-caused share of battery breakdowns was 14% across the evaluated brands; the classification is an ADAC roadside assessment, not an independently verified cause.
| Vehicle brand in ADAC analysis | Self-caused share of battery breakdowns, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Suzuki | 25% |
| Alfa Romeo | 7% |
| Evaluated-market average | 14% |
Only brands with at least 2,000 battery breakdowns were included in the brand comparison. Separately, a 2015 survey reported that 60% of surveyed Americans did not check tire pressure regularly, although the excerpt did not define “regularly.”
Missing equipment also affected assistance outcomes: AAA technicians were unable to change 21,000 tires in 2014 because vehicles lacked locking-lug-nut keys.
Towing, Fuel Delivery and Roadside Repair Outcomes
AAA’s 2014 U.S. service records quantify several outcomes beyond a call being opened:
- AAA towed more than 2 million vehicles for engine-related issues.
- AAA towed an additional 600,000 vehicles for transmission failures.
- AAA towed more than 235,000 vehicles for brake-system failures.
- AAA delivered gasoline to more than half a million vehicles.
- AAA towed more than 13,000 vehicles to repair facilities after incorrect gasoline or diesel fueling.
Source: AAA roadside breakdown report. These are estimates or “more than” figures where AAA used rounded or threshold wording.
For the United Kingdom, RAC reported an average roadside fix time of 30 minutes in the period before its August 2017 report. RAC also scored 84% overall in the 2017 Which? customer-service survey and ranked sixth among 100 companies, but that score was a survey measure rather than a repair-success rate.
Source: RAC excels in Which? customer-service survey.
Electric-Vehicle Roadside Assistance and Charging Events
AAA estimated 215,000 U.S. electric-vehicle service calls in 2024, equal to about 0.8% of its roadside-service events. The estimate is provider-specific, and the report does not expand the EV definition in the supplied measurement.
For context, battery-electric vehicles were 0.68% of the 284.2 million vehicles in operation in the United States at the end of 2022. AAA responded to 101,692 BEV events in 2022, and its event-to-fleet comparison equaled 5.25% of the 1.9 million BEVs in operation; AAA cautioned that this is not a failure probability because exposure and membership differ.
Source: AAA Mobile Electric Vehicle Charging evaluation.
Only 2.1% of AAA’s 2022 BEV roadside events involved a BEV out of charge. In a 2019 equipment evaluation, AAA’s mobile charging unit added an average 19.25 miles of driving range in 30 minutes, while 23 Generation 1 mobile charging units were deployed by AAA roadside providers in July 2023.
ADAC recorded 52,000 roadside events for stranded electric and hybrid vehicles in Germany in 2022. More than 50% involved the starter battery, according to ADAC’s estimate; the combined population includes electric and hybrid vehicles.
Source: ADAC Hesse 2022 breakdown balance.
Driver Response and Breakdown-Assistance Adoption
The 2024 AA Yonder Driver Poll measured intended actions in specific United Kingdom road scenarios, not observed behavior during actual breakdowns.
| Breakdown scenario | Respondents saying they would call a breakdown provider |
|---|---|
| Motorway | 82% |
| A road or dual carriageway | 93% |
| Country road | 95% |
| Car park | 97% |
Source: AA Yonder Driver Poll Summaries 2024.
The same survey found that 92% would switch on hazard lights after breaking down on a motorway, 88% would pull onto a motorway hard shoulder, and 83% would leave the vehicle and stand nearby. For a smart-motorway breakdown, 82% would call a provider and 70% would pull into an emergency area.
Knowledge of cover also had a measurable gap: 55% incorrectly thought insurance premium tax was not levied on breakdown cover. This is a knowledge and attitude result, not a measure of tax compliance or actual roadside-assistance adoption.