After 48 Years, My Family must leave AAA

Robert L. Darbelnet - President and CEO of AAA

Family,

I'm beginning to think the man you see above these letters is trying to kill me. As a cyclist that commutes to work, I am constantly fighting to assert my right to the road. I realize that my safety would be better served by improvements to the roadway that benefit cyclists and pedestrians. This man is working against those goals, using OUR MONEY!

Our AAA payments are being spent to lobby against cycling and pedestrian infrastructure and for increasing speed limits in our communities. AAA has an obsessed and myopic focus on promoting a 1950s Eisenhower belief in highway expansion without regard to theories of smart growth, mass transit and combatting urban sprawl. AAA lobbies furiously to make sure that all gas tax revenues go to facilities for cars, trucks and other motor vehicles, instead of transit, bike or ped facilities, even though these projects would result in fewer cars on the road, thus benefiting motorists.

You can read about AAA's battle against "Rails to Trails" program here:

http://www.railstotrails.org/ourWork/whereWeWork/national/news/AAA.html

Here's a link to a discussion about AAA's anti bike slant on a bicycling forum:

http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-331410.html

Rather than reinvent the wheel, allow me to direct you to a post by Gary from Gary Rides Bikes. He has an excellent explanation of the evils of AAA:

Given how little bike and pedestrian trail funding is actually included in the federal budget, making us a target to cut funds reeks of a mode bias agenda. This is hardly the first time AAA has tried to advance automobile interests by trying to kick other modes of travel out of the picture. When D.C. was recently planning bike lanes on famous Pennsylvania Ave., AAA released an op-ed piece calling it a "War on motorists", and actively lobbied against the proposals. Lon Anderson of AAA called this "war" a huge concern for their "80,000 DC AAA members". I don't think most members who only know of AAA as the company that helps change their flats and gives out maps, are aware these kind of lobbying efforts are being done on their behalf.

There is hope! Here's the website run by Better World Club, the sustainable alternative to AAA:

http://www.betterworldclub.com/competition/aaa_chart.cfm

Let's cancel our AAA memberships and instead use this wise, contemporary and responsible company for our roadside assistance needs. Will you join me? My life depends on it!

Love,

Alex