AA Ireland was called out almost 160,000 times during 2007, and fixed 80% of breakdowns at the roadside. The dreaded flat battery was the single biggest cause of breakdown, the next most common problem was the simple wheel change.
Females were 76.5% more likely to ask for help changing a wheel than men.
Locking the keys inside the car is a frustrating and often an embarrassing experience, but a surprisingly common one. There were 3,823 cases of keys locked in cars last year, some locked inside along with a baby or small child.
Fuel system problems accounted for 10.9% of all call outs, including 1,466 cases of running out of fuel and 1,133 cases of using the wrong fuel.
The much more serious problem of accident damage only accounted for 2.5% of AA call outs.
New cars were by no means immune. The AA was called out to attend 13,581 07-registered cars last year, 8.6% of all call outs, ranging from alarm and electrical faults to major mechanical breakdowns.
AA Rescue Call-Outs 2007
Total number of jobs: 157,710
Classification:
| Battery | 31.1% |
| Steering/Suspension/Brakes | 18.4% |
| Wheel change/tyre | 13.3% |
| Fuel (empty or wrong fuel) | 10.9% |
| Engine & Exhaust | 8.6% |
| Locks & Alarms | 6.7% |
| Transmission | 6.7% |
| Ignition | 4.8% |
| Electrical | 4.5% |
| Body/Heating/Ventilation | 3.1% |
| Cooling | 2.8% |
| Charging | 2.4% |
