Auto Club Membership

The only reason I cling to my Auto Club membership of 22 years is my heretofore held belief that my wife and daughter are safer if they call the club for assistance in the event of a breakdown in some remote threatening place.

The one time they needed such help, roadside phone operators put my daughter on hold and rerouted her call several times for unexplained reasons. There had been stories in the press and on TV of women assaulted or worse when they left their cars to use the phone system so the hassle of getting the attention of the dispatchers caused her considerable concern. Then there was a wait of 40 minutes in the car on a dark freeway before the tow truck arrived. Meanwhile cars occupied by men slowed or stopped alongside.

Now we learn of one woman’s more dreadful experience of kidnap and rape because the club dispatcher insisted she stay at the phone until the tow truck arrived (“Angry Mother Leads Campaign Against Auto Club Rules” by Dianne Klein, March 27).

It seems to me, if the club is, as it claims, an organization of individuals joined in company for mutual protection and benefit, it would adopt a less cavalier attitude towards us, its members. Rather than relying on the premise that someone in danger and fearing for her safety should draw on some extraordinary reserve of calm and common sense to look after herself as the club apologists propose, let them now revise their operating procedure for such circumstances.

Better, get the so-called automobile members organizations out of the loop. The emergency phone system should be redesigned to give highest priority to alerting a law enforcement agency as to the plight of a helpless woman. Adopt the attitude assumed by amateur radio operators when they come upon a motorist, female or male, stranded on the freeways: Call the CHP. Let professionals sort out the situation.

LOUIS St. MARTIN

Pomona