A 70-year-old woman says she was abandoned by the RAA late at night and on the side of a busy Adelaide road, as the organisation did not follow the procedures it had in place to respond to calls from people who are entering mandatory isolation.
Carmel Vowels recently flew into Adelaide from Sydney after she had received approval to enter South Australia.
Ms Vowels said she had organised, before landing, to borrow a car from family in Adelaide to travel to the Riverland region to undertake her 14-day self-isolation.
But after picking up the car, Ms Vowels said she broke down and was forced to call her nephew, who had lent her the vehicle.
"He just said the car had been serviced last week and it was all fine and so I said, 'I would ring the RAA and that I've been a member with them for most of my life'," she said.
"I rang them and they said they had a series of questions to ask me, one of them being was if I was in the two-week isolation.
"I said I was and they said, 'they couldn't service me', so I just hung up and didn't really know what to do.
"It was then probably close to 10 o'clock at night and it was cold and trucks were roaring past me and that was the end of that."
Ms Vowels' nephew came to her rescue and drove her to another vehicle, enabling her to make the trip.
'We sincerely apologise': RAA
RAA senior road service manager Peter Bray said: "RAA's policy is to ask a standard question about the health and recent travel movements of our members before we organise any face-to-face interaction.
"If we can’t be there to assist in-person, we’ll help our members organise a lift home, secure their vehicle and do whatever it takes to keep them moving," he said.
"RAA prides itself on always being there for its members and is disappointed that an oversight in this instance has meant we’ve let this member down.
"We have been trying to reach out to the member concerned to express our sincere apologies."
Mr Bray added that RAA is regularly reviewing its roadside response based on "updated advice from health and government authorities, as well as changes to state regulations due to the COVID-19 crisis".
Ms Vowels said she had been a long-time member and supporter of the RAA and admitted it had been a very helpful service in the past.
But she said her recent experience was upsetting.
"I don't understand why they couldn't have kept their distance and worn shields. They should be prepared for something like this," she said.
"I would hate to see somebody else in that situation who is really stuck. I was just lucky I had a backup."
