Since its creation in 1905, the
Automobile Association (aka "The
AA") has been the UKs forerunner of automobile breakdown assistance and pioneers of road safety. They've always been proud of their low response times of around 35 minutes.
In 1910 the
AA started providing hand written route maps - the first version of the popular
AA Online Route Planner (similar to
Microsoft AutoRoute) now in use.
In the 1920s, the AA started an inspection service for pre-purchase and post accident repair checks. Still a popular service today, but perhaps a lesser known service of the
AA.
RAC is the main competitor to the
AA in the UK.