AAA Hoosier Motor Club History
AAA Hoosier Motor Club, originally known as the Flat Tire Club, was created as a social organization in 1902.
At that time, there were only 23,000 registered automobiles in the United States.
Garbed in linen dusters, caps and goggles, early Club members participated in social weekend auto trips. In addition to picnic lunches, early adventurers found themselves accompanied by a "service car" that carried spare parts, tires--which frequently wore out after 70 miles--and gasoline.
During the early days, Richmond was a two-day drive from Indianapolis.
Interest in the organization grew rapidly and in 1911, the group reorganized and changed its name to the Hoosier Motor Club with offices in the Claypool Hotel at Washington and Illinois streets in downtown Indianapolis.
Operations were later moved to the Spink-Arms Hotel on Vermont Street.
With nearly 500 members in 1917, the Club affiliated with the American Automobile Association.
Although it began as social in nature, the Hoosier Motor Club quickly became a power in the state's legislature, seeking legislation pertaining to ownership and the use of motor vehicles, road development, directional signs and overall safety.
The creation of a state highway department was a Motor Club-sponsored bill that originally passed in 1917, was declared unconstitutional, but then passed again in 1919. A Club-sponsored law requiring motorists to use dimmers and another making the "unlawful taking of an auto" a felony also passed that year.
The Hoosier Motor Club took the initiative in those early days to erect a few road directional markers and street signs of its own in order to help motorists along their way. The newly established state highway department later replaced those signs with official ones.
Along with the Indianapolis Police Department, the Club began promoting school safety through the creation of school safety programs in the early 1920s. The "Schoolboy Patrol" was formed and the Hoosier Motor Club began to supply patrol belts and materials for school safety boys and girls. The Club still supports this program, along with its School's Open-Drive Carefully program, which provides thousands of pieces of school traffic safety literature, posters and bumper stickers free to schools and law enforcement agencies.
In 1928, Hoosier Motor Club members erected 600 directional signs to assist Indianapolis 500 visitors in finding their way to and around Speedway. During that same year, Club headquarters was relocated to 1840 N. Meridian Street.
By 1929, with more than 10,000 members, the need for road service became apparent. Service trucks were purchased in order to provide members with free tow-in service.
Club involvement in driver education originated in the late 1930s.
In order to meet the needs of all travelers, World Travel service was introduced in 1949.
By 1955, membership had grown to 45,840. In order to accommodate the number of service calls received, the Hoosier Motor Club installed mobile radio units in its trucks to assist with the communication process. H.M.C. operators answered 37,121 calls for help in 1955.
Corporate headquarters moved to 40 West 40th Street in 1961 with 70,000 registered Club members.
The Club's first branch office opened in Jeffersonville (now Clarksville) in 1965, followed by offices in Richmond and Anderson in 1967 and Muncie in 1968. Later, the Lafayette Auto Club and the Terre Haute Auto Club merged with the Hoosier Motor Club to add additional branch offices.
Membership continued to grow rapidly and the Club again expanded its corporate operations, moving to 56th street in 1977.
In 1982, the Club's 80th anniversary, membership numbers had reached 200,000. Two years later, the Hoosier Motor Club moved to its current location--3750 Guion Road.
Today, AAA Hoosier Motor Club boasts 380,000 members in the Club's 50-county territory.
The Club continues to remain active in local legislation. In recent times, AAA Hoosier Motor Club has been active in legislation mandating child seat restraints and seat belts, covering loads in uncovered trucks, graduated driver licensing, drunk driving laws and other traffic safety-related issues.
The AAA Travel Agency is Indiana's largest travel agency, handling all types of domestic and foreign travel, airline reservations, hotel/motel reservations, tour packages, passport photos and all kinds of cruises. Group travel by motor coach to many of the country's most popular destinations is also available. Club members planning auto trips have free access to AAA's famous TripTiks, TourBooks, maps and CampBooks as well as travelers cheques.
H.M.C. Insurance Agency offers all lines of insurance including life, auto, home and personal.
Valuable services are continuously added for the benefit of members. These announcements are made through the Club's bi-monthly publication--Home & Away magazine.
In addition to the many benefits of roadside assistance, travel and insurance services, one of the most popular perks of membership is the Club's discount program--Show Your Card & Save--which gives members discounts at participating vendors including hotels, movie theatres, tourist attractions and a variety of other businesses.
With the evolution of technology, AAA Hoosier Motor Club has continued to expand its services. The Club's Web site --www.aaahoosier.com -- provides members with a variety of services from the convenience of their own homes, including the ability to print online TripTiks.
"There aren't many businesses that can say they've been in operation for 100 years," said AAA Hoosier Motor Club President & CEO Terry R. Farias. "We're proud of our history and excited about our future. Our members have made us an icon in the state of Indiana and while we're certainly happy with what we've accomplished, we realize there's still a lot of work that needs to be done."
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