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MORE THAN 1,300 motorists had their car break down en route to hospital in 2018, some with passengers in labour, according to figures from insurance company AA Ireland.
The breakdown assistance arm of the company dealt with 1,302 cases where the motorist was either en route to hospital for themselves or were carrying passengers who needed to be seen to.
Some 21 of these cases involved a passenger in the vehicle who was in labour.
The AA is advising motorists not to overlook car maintenance during the current holiday season.
“Last year alone we dealt with 1,302 breakdowns where either the motorist needed to get to hospital or they were escorting someone who needed treatment,” Conor Faughnan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs said.
“Car breakdowns are never an enjoyable experience, but in a case of Murphy’s Law you can almost guarantee that they will happen at the most inconvenient time.
“It’s important, particularly during the winter months where some motoring issues such as old or defective batteries can be magnified, that people stay on top of their car maintenance to help reduce the risk.”
The AA was called out to almost 1,000 breakdowns involving someone about to travel abroad – 905 cases involved passengers who were due to catch a flight, while 47 involved passengers due to take a ferry.
“For most of us the holiday season is in the rear-view mirror, but if you are fortunate enough to be planning a winter getaway this year it’s important that you don’t overlook the first stage of the holiday – getting to the airport or your ferry,” Faughnan said.
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That can’t be right. If the AA got that many calls, could alot of them have been making up the hospital part to get prioritised?
@HonDeDeise: exactly. This is just yet another free ad for the AA who get free promotions on every single radio and tv station every time there is a traffic news story. The AA are two thing: a lobbying group for motorists and an insurance- breakdown company. No wonder they never have to advertise.
It’ll be mental breakdowns, rather than vehicle breakdowns, that’ll be hitting the news when the new children’s hospital eventually opens.
Expensive auld yokes to keep on the road. Shop around. A rip off merchant quoted me €1000 to fit new clutch. Got it done for €500 after phoning around
@Tony O Neill: Well done Tony,it pays to shop around,I recently had my air con fixed and re gassed in Parkwest Dublin for 60 euro, running as good as new.
@Honeybee: good price for that. Ford wanted to charge me €160 just for gas to recharge aircon. Got it done in Halfords for €45. Some chancers out there . Be careful
The Minister may want to stop the sale of petrol and diesel cars. People think the electric car is a great alternative and it is. However if anyone thinks the fiscus can afford the loss of VRT revenue and the tax gained from petrol and diesel then think again. When the sales of electric cars reach a certain critical mass then the taxes and VRT will be transferred.
@Micheal S. O’ Ceilleachair: saw broke down on M9 resently
@Gerard Heery: I sometimes see them breaking down too, but it’s rare, as the percentage of total electric cars on the road is lower than equivalent of fossil fuel cars.
I’ll get an electric car once I can get from Cork to Malahide and back on one full tank of electricity, or Cork To Belfast with overnight charging for the return, with some local cruising to spare. Until then, the car planned to replace my old diesel clunker will be a plug-in hybrid.
At least with with a hybrid, once the fossil engine breaks down, I can run it in EV mode to the garage.
Is this an Advertisement?
One more way in which electric cars will save lives.
According to the AA in UK the vast majority of cars that break down are petrol.
@Perlum Sprite: Wonder what will happen to the AA in the future when our government ban petrol/diesel cars from 2030 as announced today, come to think of it, what will happen to all of us who are unable to afford electric cars, is this a way to price us off the road.
@Honeybee: Electric cars are free. Do the maths. My used Renault Zoe was 6k to buy and I saved 5k in the first year. A Tesla is 50k, minus 15k fuel and maintenance savings over 5 years.
@Honeybee: Imagine how cheap EVs will be in 10 years! 2021 is the point at which EVs will become cheaper to buy than petrol or diesel cars. You would be insane to buy any non electric car from that point on.
@Use Your Head: Wow,electric cars are free,so that’s it,I’ve been worrying about nothing. They lied,that Hyundai Kona advertised at 38,000 euro is FREE, must have missed the government campaign, will sign up first thing when the dealership opens,sorry but the Renault Zoe is not my first choice,each to his own.
@Honeybee: perhaps read it again.
@Honeybee: And yes, even a €38,000 Kona pays for itself in 10 years. Free car.
@Use Your Head: No I get it , I really do,I’m not having a pop at you, but on a larger scale things are not so simple.There were 4825 electric cars on the road in 2019 out of 2.7 million cars. There remains concerns about limits on driving distances,initial purchase costs and the potential charging costs/disposal of batteries. The infrastructure to support these vehicles is not sufficient and somewhere along the line the costs to the exchequer will need to be addressed in terms of lost revenue . While you say long term costs are negligible, the initial outlay for say the Hyundai Kona at 38,000 are impossible,a minimum of 7896 euro deposit followed by five years of 605 euro per month also charging costs which if you sign up for night rate electricity will increase your day rate for electricity substantially. It takes 4 hours to fully charge the battery. Over a very extended period and holding on to a ten year plus car then perhaps cost will reduce but there is no certainty, government will not see the money tree shed its leaves.
@Perlum Sprite: That may be true, but diesel cars can break down too.
In addition to timing belt failure, turbo breakdown, and other things petrol engines don’t have exclusivity rights to, there’s also clogged DPF, a real PITA.
@Use Your Head: I genuinely hope you’re right about the reducing costs, but fear that any costs reduced by increasing production efficiencies will be hoovered up by the State. As it stands such capital outlay as is required exceeds the capacity of many of us; and that’s even before any charging impracticalities are addressed.
Can’t see electric cars coping with the flooding we get in Sth Tipperary.
@Kath Noonan: They cope better than any other type of car. Many EVs can wade through water as high as their windows.
FG are just running scared since the greens did relatively well in the last elections. Within days of the election there was an array of eco friendly noises from the government. No gas boilers, no petrol or diesel cars, more brown bins etc. Ireland is going to single handedly save the planet. Of course this planet saving thing will not come cheap so the odd tax will have to be thrown in. All very well if we are at the forefront of planet saving except for one problem. A small village of say 5 million residents in china who are not the least bit interested in saving the planet will counteract all our good work. Though the government will still benefit from the taxes imposed I suppose so not a complete failure. Don’t get me wrong I’m all for doing our bit but punishing us for what is a worldwide problem seems a little bit Irish.
Sorry I put the above comment in the wrong story
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