RAC quicker to the rescue
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• The RAC has installed the first stage of its national data and speech radio system — the biggest in the UK — at its centres in Stockport, Bristol and Walsall. The £8.5 million contract, with Marshfield-based Dowty Information Systems, will cover all the RAC's fleet of 1,500 breakdown vehicles.
The Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Newcastle centres will be operating the system by the end of August, and London by the end of September.
The system uses a central computer, linked to mobile data terminals in the vans, As calls are received from RAC members they are dispatched to the driver in seconds. Jobs are put in a queue and a dispatcher decides which van to allocate to which jobs. A patrolman can see where the job is and how long a member has been waiting. Although the data system is quicker than the previous voice-only radio system, some patrolmen say they miss the personal contact.
Stockport rescue service manager David Tiller says the system "has not taken away the man in the van, but made the service more efficient and economic for the member", with the level of breakdowns being reached within the hour increasing from around 80(-r to 84%-86%, despite a 15% increase in breakdowns.