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For 100 years, RAC Roadside Assistance has been there for Western Australians through flat batteries, flat tyres, empty fuel tanks and unexpected breakdowns. Every callout has a story behind it.
To celebrate this milestone, we invited members to write a birthday card to RAC, sharing a memorable moment when Roadside Assistance came to the rescue.
Out of hundreds of heartfelt entries, 100 members received a limited-edition Roadside Assistance 100 Years medallion in recognition of their stories. Below, we've shared 10 of the winning stories.
"Very fortunately, as a member for over half of the RAC’s Roadside Assistance’s 100 years I have only needed the Assistance's ‘rescue’ on 3 occasions - all were completed in a friendly, efficient way without undue delay or inconvenience. The most unforgettable was a country ‘rescue’ during an early 1980’s Easter holiday shared with another young family in Busselton. During a day trip to Augusta in separate cars the small East Augusta settlement across the Blackwood River drew our attention.
Being ever keen to drive open country roads and visit new places I suggested our return to Busselton include a guesstimated 2 hour, 86k return diversion from Karridale to East Augusta via the Brockman Highway and the Scott River Road. Our friends declined so that afternoon we set off alone from Karridale.
The Scott River Road’s mix of corrugated gravel and sand sections took longer to drive than expected; after briefly visiting East Augusta we left for Busselton via Karridale. A short time later our usually reliable c.1970 Hillman Hunter “Safari” station wagon’s 4-cylinder motor began ‘coughing’ (ie “missing”) amid unnerving shudders and shakes. Our pace slowed to a walk; fast falling darkness and fast rising family anxiety dictated a stop to check and clean the spark plug heads and leads. For a short time thereafter our car ran smoothly before its ‘health’ failed again; thankfully and fortuitously one of the Road's few houses was in sight. With family ‘encouragement our car limped towards the house’s welcoming beacons of light before almost expiring at the house’s front gate!
The house’s elderly couple occupants were equally welcoming; they could not offer any mechanical assistance but readily offered their pre-mobile era, landline phone to call the region's RAC Roadside Assistance man and to leave a message for our friends in Busselton. They warmly and generously provided much appreciated hot drinks and snacks plus some old toys to ‘entertain’ our 3 children. Needless to say they refused any tangible ‘reward’.
To our collective relief, the RAC’s Roadside Assistance man arrived within the hour. After explaining his reassuring “no worries, no problem” belief the Scott River Road’s fine, “minerals laden” dust had “shorted” the distributor’s internal “rotor and contact points” he cleaned them and ‘sealed’ the distributor’s cap. His diagnosis and treatment proved correct - our car and its 5 far happier than before occupants were soon back on the road. The RAC man followed us in his vehicle to the ‘security’ of the sealed Brockman Highway to Karridale from where our car’s somewhat embarrassed driver and rather subdued occupants eventually re-joined our friends in Busselton hours later than originally guesstimated!
My 3 RAC Roadside Assistance rescues are all well-remembered and appreciated. The most “unforgettable moment” with them embraces our rescue in the dark of night from an unforeseen, unique in our experience plight on an isolated, deserted Scott River Road, and not least, the kind elderly couple who enabled our rescue by the region’s knowledgeable and reassuring RAC man."
"Rain hammered the windscreen so hard that I could barely see the white lines on the highway. My old hatchback shuddered once, twice, then rolled silently to a stop beside a stretch of empty bushland twenty kilometres outside of Bunbury.
“Perfect,” I muttered, gripping the steering wheel.
My phone showed one bar of reception and 11:47 p.m. I was returning home after spending the weekend helping my parents pack up their belongings before moving into a retirement village. Exhausted and cold, I tried the ignition again. Nothing.
I sat back and stared into the dark. Cars rushed past in bursts of spray and headlights. I imagined every possible disaster: dead battery, broken engine, being stranded until sunrise.
Then I remembered the roadside assistance membership mymother insisted everyone in the family should have.
“You’ll thank me one day,” Mum always said.
I laughed nervously and made the call.
To my surprise, someone answered immediately.
“This is Roadside Assist. Are you safe?”
The calmness in the voice steadied me. I explained where i was, trying not to sound frightened.
“You’ve done the right thing,” the voice at the other end of the phone said. “Stay in the vehicle with your hazards on. We’ve got someone twenty-five minutes away.”
Twenty-five minutes felt like forever.
The rain intensified. A truck thundered past, rocking the little car. I wrapped myself in a coat and watched fog creep across the windows.
Then my phone buzzed.
“Hi, it’s RAC roadside assist. I’m on my way. Yellow vehicle with flashing lights.”
Somehow, hearing a real person’s voice made the night feel less lonely.
Exactly twenty-four minutes later, flashing lights appeared through the rain like a small rescue beacon. A gentleman stepped out wearing soaked reflective gear and a cheerful grin.
“Rough night for a breakdown,” he said.
“You could say that.”
Within minutes he had the bonnet open, torch balanced on his shoulder. I stood under the shelter of his umbrella while he checked the battery.
“Good news,” he announced. “Your terminal’s come loose from the rough country roads.”
“That’s it?” “That’s it.”
In less than ten minutes, the car roared back to life. I nearly cried with relief.
The RAC man smiled. “Happens more often than you’d think.”
As I signed the paperwork, i noticed another thermos sitting in his ute.
“You must have a long night ahead.”
The man shrugged. “People always break down in the rain.”
Before leaving, he waited until I safely merged back onto the highway.
The drive home felt different after that. The storm still raged, but I no longer felt stranded in it.
At 1:03 a.m., i pulled into my driveway. My phone buzzed with a message from Mum:
Made it home? I smiled and typed back:
Yes. And you were right about the RAC roadside assist."
"One chilly night on a lonely road,
My car gave up and lost its mode.
The engine coughed, then gave a sigh,
I checked, I guessed, I wondered why.
With hazards flashing in the dark,
I feared I'd need a long bushwalk.
But RAC came to save the day,
A yellow knight soon on the way.
The patrol arrived with a friendly grin,
Calm and confident from the moment he stepped in.
He checked the battery, gave it a test,
Then worked his magic like one of the best.
He cracked a joke as he fixed the fault,
Turning stress to laughter by default.
What felt like trouble, gloom and dread,
Became a funny story instead.
Before too long the car was right,
Back on the road that very night.
No fuss, no drama, no lengthy delay,
Just brilliant service all the way.
What I remember most isn't the repair,
It's knowing someone genuinely cared.
When plans went wrong and luck went flat,
RAC simply said, "We've got you, mate."
So here's my thanks in a little rhyme,
For helping drivers time after time.
Through rain or heat, near or far,
They rescue more than just a car.
They bring peace of mind when things go wrong,
A helping hand that's steady and strong.
My memorable moment? Easy to see -
RAC turned a breakdown into a victory! 🚗💛"
"Happy, Happy 100th Anniversary RAC.
I have been a member since 1987…so nearly 40 years.
Living in Pinjarra, Perth, Albany and Mandurah in that time.
RAC Roadside Assistance has been my little YELLOW ROCK of support in all my car travels.
With many wonderful Roadside Mechanics helping on numerous occasions. Charging flat batteries, adding fuel to an empty tank, rescuing locked keys inside the car, and towing after a couple of accidents and when an engine seized up. RAC Roadside Assistance was always just a phone call away.
But the most important memory to me is that wonderful feeling of knowing that I had a guardian angel or as I call them “Car-dian Angels” looking out for myself, family and friends on the roads.
That feeling of “Safeness” that not just myself and husband had, but that we felt when our children, Jon and Cassie, first drove by themselves after getting their Driver’s Licenses.
Especially considering that the car, a red manual 1992 Toyota Corolla Seca, that they learnt to drive in was the same one that they had been in when they were born. In fact, 16 years earlier they had come home from the hospital in. We even have photos of them in the original car.
The Corolla stayed in the family for another 10 years or so, making it to nearly 30 years old.
And as different cars and number plates have come and gone we have all kept our RAC Roadside Membership numbers the same. In fact, the children’s Nanna Elvie, a long-time Member of the RAC, paid for each grandchild to have 5 years Roadside Assistance membership when they first got their license. As she knew, like us, that would help keep them safe.
So, Congratulations RAC Roadside Assistance on reaching the 100th Anniversary, and thank you all for keeping us safe on the roads.
Looking forward to many, many more years of wonderful service."
"Rescued by the RAC in the forest about 50km East of Armadale on Brookton Highway.
On the last weekend in May 2021, my wife and I, along with our Golden Retriever Sadie, spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday with fellow caravanners in the caravan park at Beverley W.A. Beverly is a friendly little town in the wheatbelt about 136 km from our home in Cockburn. After a lovely few days away with our caravanning friends we decided to head home shortly after lunch on Sunday May 30 . Our friends decided to stay another night, so we were travelling solo. No problem. We had over the previous 6 years towed a caravan about 70,000 km. 3 times across the Nullarbor, exploring the countryside in SA, Vic, NSW and QLD as far as Brisbane, and numerous locations in WA.
……and then !!!
The trusty Pajero diesel died .aaaargh.
In the hills on Brookton Highway about 60 km from Beverly and about 76 km from home we were stranded. WE were very lucky to have mobile phone coverage where we were. Thank goodness for the RAC. The RAC sent a tow truck from Northam, we had quite a long wait till the driver found us. We were very relieved when he arrived.
The driver promptly hauled the Pajero onto the truck, hitched the caravan behind the truck and invited me and my wife AND our Golden Retriever into the cab and departed for our home.
The driver was terrific, very friendly and very capable. By the time we got home to Cockburn the sun was setting but the driver of the truck went above and beyond by backing the caravan into the garage at home and then depositing the car on the driveway. UNBELIEVABLE !
I was at the time already an RAC Gold Member after more than 50 years of membership and am so grateful to them for the terrific job they do.
I also made sure that our kids became RAC members as soon as they were able to drive.."
It is Christmas Eve 1990. Who is more excited? My wife and I or our 3-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son?
Three months earlier I have taken out a loan to purchase a two-year-old family station wagon with a mere 30 000 kilometers on the clock, so that my wife and children had a reliable vehicle for transportation.
After our evening dinner, to stem the excitement of Christmas Eve, my wife, children and I headed off on a 20-minute drive to Kings Park. Upon our arrival at Kings Park, we found a parking bay along Fraser Avenue, overlooking the picturesque vista of the Swan River and Perth City Skyline. We went for a stroll along the pathway that leads to the Perth War Memorial, and after an hour passed, satisfied that our children were suitably worn out to sleep well, we were back at our car, ready to head back home.
We harnessed the children in their safety seats, buckled ourselves in our seats of our recently acquired “pride and joy”, I turned the key and nothing happened. I tried again, and after several attempts to start the car there was no response.
Here we were stranded in Kings Park on Christmas Eve. I felt very guilty that I would need to call on the RAC Roadside Patrol for assistance on Christmas Eve. I found a public telephone booth and rang for RAC help. A friendly RAC operator reassured me that help was on the way. A RAC patrol car was dispatched to help us out.
The RAC Patrol person arrived, inspected the car, and told us he would need to organize a tow truck to get the car and us home.
Even though I felt dejected that my recently acquired vehicle had let me and my family down on Christmas Eve, the RAC patrol person was very supportive of us, despite our dilemma.
Soon after a tow truck arrived, and the friendly tow truck driver was taking our car and all of us to our home in Noranda.
The entire rescue was covered in full by our RAC membership.
Our unexpected breakdown on Christmas Eve, and subsequent rescue is one that I will always remember and hold grateful in my heart. We were all safe and sound back home and looking forward to Christmas Day, thanks to the RAC.
Our children slept very well after their extended Christmas Eve RAC rescue adventure. Motor vehicle journalists have since described the car I had purchased as a “boat anchor.”"
"The day my MINI needed rescuing by the place I worked for
My unforgettable Roadside Assistance moment was when my MINI decided it was no longer interested in being a car.
At the time, I was working as an RAC branch manager, so I knew Roadside Assistance from the inside. I knew the value, the process, and how much reassurance it gave members. But it is a very different experience when the stranded member is you, standing beside a MINI that had gone from “fun little city car” to “premium roadside decoration”.
The car was completely undrivable and had to be towed. Naturally, I slipped straight into branch manager mode. I mentally assessed the situation like it was a live customer case study: location confirmed, safety managed, vehicle condition critical, driver ego slightly damaged.
When the patrol arrived, the whole thing felt beautifully ironic. I had spent so much time explaining the benefits of Roadside Assistance to others, and now here I was, being personally saved by it. My MINI was loaded onto the tow truck with all the dignity of a diva being carried off stage after refusing to perform.
As it disappeared down the road, I remember thinking this was possibly the most RAC moment ever: an RAC branch manager, rescued by RAC, from a MINI that had decided mobility was optional.
It was inconvenient, slightly embarrassing, and very funny. But it also reminded me exactly why Roadside Assistance matters. When your plans fall apart and your car gives up, having someone arrive calm, capable, and ready to help turns a stressful moment into a story you can laugh about later."
"It was meant to be a relaxing camping weekend at Preston Beach—fresh air, good company and a chance to switch off. That all changed in an instant when I closed my car door and realised my keys were sitting on the driver's seat.
My heart sank.
We were miles from home, surrounded by bush and beach, with no spare key and no easy way to get back into the car. For a few moments, I imagined the weekend was over before it had really begun.
Thankfully, I remembered I had RAC Roadside Assistance.
One phone call was all it took. The person I spoke to was calm, reassuring and let me know help was on the way. Before long, the RAC patrol arrived with a friendly smile and immediately put us at ease. Within minutes, they had safely unlocked the car and rescued my keys.
It wasn't just about getting back into the car—it was the relief of knowing someone had our back when we were stranded in a small coastal town. What started as a stressful and embarrassing mistake quickly became a story we could laugh about for the rest of the weekend.
That day reminded me that roadside assistance isn't just for flat batteries or breakdowns. It's about peace of mind, knowing that wherever you are in Western Australia—even on a camping trip at Preston Beach—someone is only a phone call away.
I've never forgotten how quickly, professionally and kindly the RAC came to our rescue. They turned what could have been a holiday disaster into nothing more than a funny camping story.
Now, whenever I head off on another adventure, I know I'm not really travelling alone. RAC is always along for the journey."
"The heat coming off the Kwinana Freeway was brutal, easily hitting 41°C. We were heading down to Mandurah for a weekend away when the dashboard suddenly lit up and the engine completely cut out just past Cockburn Central.
We managed to coast the dead car onto the gravel shoulder. Within minutes, the cabin felt like an oven, and the passing semi-trailers were rocking the car. We called roadside assistance, expecting a nightmare of a wait in the blistering sun.
About fifteen minutes later, a yellow patrol van pulled up behind us. The RAC patrolman hopped out, completely unfazed by the heatwave. Before even popping the bonnet, he handed us two ice-cold bottles of water from his fridge.
""Rough day for a breakdown,"" he said with a grin.
He got straight to work under the bonnet while we chatted, swapping stories about footy and the brutal Perth summer. It turned out the alternator was completely shot. Since it wasn't a quick roadside fix, he didn't just leave us to bake while waiting for a tow. He ushered us into the air-conditioned cabin of his truck, keeping us comfortable and safe from the highway traffic.
By the time the tilt-tray arrived, he had already phoned ahead to ensure the tow truck driver could drop us off at the nearest train station. Thanks to that extra bit of care, we still made it to Mandurah for our holiday. It was a stressful situation completely turned around by genuine Aussie helpfulness."
"Dick Van Dyke, Sir David Attenborough, and now the RAC (WA) Roadside Assistance achieves 100 years! Congratulations to one and all.
Despite having been an RAC member for over half of those 100 years (since 1971), we’ve had only a handful of occasions where we’ve needed roadside assistance. A couple of ‘keys-locked-in-the-car’ events (last century, when such things could easily happen), but aside from those, the only really memorable situation occurred on 19 April 1992.
It was Easter Sunday. My wife’s mother had recently passed away, and we were in the process of emptying her home in St James, ferrying her stuff to our place in Padbury. The car was loaded, our three kids were on board, and we’d set off late afternoon towards Manning Road when our car coasted to a stop. We were driving a 1983 Nissan Prairie, which we’d had from new, but was starting to show its age a bit.
I couldn’t work out what the problem was, so decided a call to the RAC would be in order. There were no mobile phones then of course, but fortunately there was a phone box within easy walking distance on a comfortable, warm afternoon. And so it was that a call for help went out to the RAC.
Despite it being Easter Sunday, the patrolman turned up relatively quickly. A cheerful & friendly character, the chap ran a few tests which showed that the battery was as flat as the proverbial pancake, and that this was because the alternator wasn’t charging. Lacking a spare, the highly trained RAC motor mechanic put his technical alternator repair skills to use.
He hit it with a hammer.
Not a massive blow of course, just the right sort of tap in the right place – enough to shake it up to get things running again (or maybe show it who was boss?). With a bit more boost to the battery to get the car started, he tested the alternator and found it to be charging once more!
The patrolman cautioned that this was only a temporary fix, and that it could last a few minutes, or hours, or maybe even a day or two – but that we should have the device repaired or replaced as soon as possible. Having done what he could, our competent RAC repairman headed off to his next assignment, hopefully to sort out someone else’s problems as efficiently as he’d fixed ours.
In the event we got home safely that evening, and the gadget even lasted long enough to get to an auto electrician on the Wednesday, to get the repair done.
Despite not needing the RAC roadside service often over the last 55 years, I still feel that access to it is a bit of comfortable insurance.
Once again, well done to the RAC road patrol for assisting what must be many, many tens, if not hundreds of thousands of stranded motorists over the past 100 years. What an achievement!"