![Gelber Engel fcm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Gelber_Engel_fcm.jpg)
ADAC, officially the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club (), is Europe's largest
motoring association
Automobile associations, also referred to as motoring clubs, motoring associations, motor clubs, are organizations, either for-profit or non-profit, which motorists (drivers and vehicle owners) can join to enjoy benefits provided by the club relat ...
. ADAC is the largest club (Verein) in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
with around 21 million members. It would be more aptly described today as an
individual mobility
Individual human mobility is the study that describes how individual humans move within a network or system. The concept has been studied in a number of fields originating in the study of demographics. Understanding human mobility has many appli ...
association since it looks more broadly at all transport options ensuring individual mobility. Its headquarters is located in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
. The club has a yield of 911 million Euro (profit 25 million Euro) in 2014; the ADAC holding ''ADAC Beteiligungs- und Wirtschaftsdienst GmbH'' of 1004 million Euro (profit 84,9 million Euro) in 2014.
The object of the ADAC is "the representation, promotion and advocacy of
motoring
Motoring may refer to:
* ''Motoring'' (film), a 1927 British comedy film
* Motoring (TV series), a Canadian automotive television program (1988 to present)
* 310 Motoring, an automotive customization garage based in Los Angeles, California
* Mot ...
,
motorsport
Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
and
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
interests." The ADAC states that it represents the interests of motorists; however, he owns several subsidiaries in different sectors such as insurance and publishing.
Its original and most well-known service is
roadside assistance
Roadside assistance, also known as breakdown coverage, is a service that assists motorists, motorcyclists, or bicyclists whose vehicles have suffered a mechanical failure that either cannot be resolved by the motorist, or has prevented them from ...
. ADAC works together closely with its Austrian counterpart
ÖAMTC. Via its charitable subsidiary ADAC
Luftrettung gGmbH, ADAC operates the largest fleet of
ambulance helicopters in Germany. ADAC has fourteen subsidiaries. These serve very different sectors, but are all bundled in ADAC Beteiligungs- und Wirtschaftsdienst GmbH, which assumes the
holding function.
ADAC is one of 78 select associations and federations in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
eligible to bring test actions for declaratory judgment (''Musterfeststellungsklage'').
Work
According to its
Article of Association, ADAC's responsibilities lie in the "representation, promotion and advocacy of motoring, motorsport (...) interests" and is dedicated to the progress of road traffic, road safety, road safety education and tourism and the protection of the road users their rights as consumers.
Both the ADAC and its older competitor
AvD
The German Motor Sport Federation (german: Deutscher Motor Sport Bund or ''DMSB'', formerly known as or ''ONS'') is Germany's motor racing governing body. It represents Germany at FIA and FIM.
The , founded in 1972 by Herbert Linge as , is cons ...
(the organizer of the
German Grand Prix
The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in R ...
), are members of the
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
and the
DMSB
The German Motor Sport Federation (german: Deutscher Motor Sport Bund or ''DMSB'', formerly known as or ''ONS'') is Germany's motor racing governing body. It represents Germany at FIA and FIM.
The , founded in 1972 by Herbert Linge as , is consi ...
. The
European Grand Prix
The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a countr ...
, the former ADAC
Eifelrennen
The Eifelrennen was an annual motor race, organised by ADAC Automobile Club from 1922 to 2003, held in Germany's Eifel mountain region even before the Nürburgring was built there.
History
Starting from 1922, the first races were held on a 33 ...
, the
24 Hours Nürburgring
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smallest c ...
and many other races are hosted by ADAC.
The ADAC also operates a large fleet of mobile mechanics in yellow cars that assist motorists in trouble - the ''Yellow Angels''. The ADAC runs its own modification center whereby ordinary
van
A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...
s are turned into mobile
garage
A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include:
*Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...
s (pictures only depict Ford Galaxies) in 55 man-hours.
In addition to this, the ADAC provides 55
air ambulance helicopters for urgent medical rescues in Germany, strategically placed so that any location can be reached within 15 minutes. Air ambulance jets are used by the ADAC to rescue their members with a "PLUS" membership or customers who own an ADAC international travel insurance from any location worldwide in the case of accident or extreme sickness. The ADAC also offers its membership to non-German residents, having signed contracts with automobile clubs worldwide. In the UK, it is possible to have breakdown recovery through the local AA while having an ADAC membership.
The ADAC is a publisher of the magazine with one of the largest distribution in Germany, ''
ADAC Motorwelt
''ADAC Motorwelt'' (German language, German: ''ADAC Motoring'') is a German Automobile magazine, automobile and List of travel magazines, travel magazine published in Munich, Germany. It is a membership magazine of ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Aut ...
''. The magazine is distributed four times a year to ADAC members containing features articles of common interest to all participants of public traffic, such as product tests, safe driving tips and also places to visit by car or motorbike.
On June 3, 2008, the ADAC suspended its involvement with the
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
over the scandal surrounding
Max Mosley
Max Rufus Mosley (13 April 1940 – 23 May 2021) was a British racing driver, lawyer, and president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), a non-profit association which represents the interests of motoring organisations and ...
and his subsequent retention as FIA president.
Organisation
ADAC is an ''Idealverein'', an association with idealistic objectives, aligning its activities not along commercial objectives but along the interests and needs of its members.
In the course of 2016, ADAC realigned its organisation. ADAC now has a 3-pillar structure comprising an association (ADAC e.V.), a ''
Societas Europaea
A ''societas Europaea'' (, ; "European society" or "company"; plural: ; abbr. SE) is a public company registered in accordance with the corporate law of the European Union (EU), introduced in 2004 with the Council Regulation on the Statute f ...
'' (ADAC SE) and a foundation (''ADAC Stiftung''). This structure had been adopted by the vote of 200 delegates during an extraordinary General Assembly in late 2014. The structure was finalised in detail in 2015. At the 2016 ADAC General Assembly in Lübeck, the delegates agreed to the reorganised structure.
Organised as an association with idealistic objectives, ADAC e.V. provides core membership benefits such as roadside assistance and legal services, and is the home of functions such as consumer advocacy, motorsport, tourism and the club magazine ''ADAC Motorwelt''.
Commercial activities have been devolved to an autonomous public company limited by shares (ADAC SE), separate from the association. ADAC e.V. holds a 57.74% majority of the ADAC SE shares. Other shareholders include the ADAC foundation (25.10%) and – via private equity companies – several ADAC regional clubs (17.16%).
The ADAC
foundation
Foundation may refer to:
* Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization
** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S.
** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
is the third pillar in the ADAC structure (with ADAC e.V. and ADAC SE). The foundation pools ADAC's charitable and public benefit activities. The foundation's objectives are aligned with those of ADAC e.V. They include the promotion and support of rescue in life-threatening situations, accident prevention, scholarship & research, education and charity.
The 3-pillar structure was fully implemented by early 2017.
General Assembly
The ADAC General Assembly convenes annually. Every four years, it elects the members of the ADAC Committee. The General Assembly is composed of the delegates of the regional clubs, the members of the ADAC Administrative Council and the committee. One delegate represents 100,000 regional club members (or a fraction thereof). By unanimous vote, the Committee may bestow honorary membership on persons from Germany or abroad in recognition of special merits in the cause of motoring. They enjoy the same rights and privileges as regular members.
In an extraordinary General Assembly on December 6, 2014, August Markl was elected ADAC President.
Over 200 delegates at the General Assembly at Nürburgring in May 2019 voted Ulrich Klaus Becker (Vice President), Karsten Schulze (Technical Services President) and Gerhard Hillebrand (Transport President) to their offices. Jens Kuhfuß was confirmed in the office of Finance President. With President August Markl, Hermann Tomczyk (ADAC Sport President), and Kurt Heinen, Tourism President, they form the newly constituted seven-strong ADAC Committee.
The extraordinary General Assembly in Munich in November 2019 adopted a new Premium membership which adds numerous features to the existing Plus membership. At this time, the membership fees for the available membership models were adjusted. This General Assembly also adopted generally amended Articles of Association. The aim of the amendments was to better differentiate between the club's executive and advisory bodies and convey a clear assignment of responsibilities.
In 2021 the General Assembly votet Christian Reinicke (ADAC President), Gerd Ennser (ADAC Sport President) and Karlheinz Jungbeck (ADAC Tourism President) to their offices.
ADAC Administrative Council
The ADAC Administrative Council is composed of the members of the Committee and the 18 chairmen of the Regional Clubs or their deputies in the Regional Club Boards. Decisions of the Administrative Council are binding on all Regional Clubs.
ADAC Committee
The non-remunerated seven-strong ADAC Committee is elected by the General Assembly as defined in the Articles of Association of ADAC e.V (federal organisation). The committee's speaker is the ADAC President. The acting ADAC President is Christian Reinicke. The term of office of the Committee members is four years. They may be re-elected. Committee meetings are attended by the Chief Legal Adviser.
Management and Executive Board
The ADAC e.V. Executive Board is the remunerated executive body, responsible for the club's management. The ADAC e.V. Executive Board is composed of Dieter Nirschl, Lars Soutschka and Oliver Weissenberger. Marion Ebentheuer, Mahbod Asgari and Jörg Helten are the ADAC SE Executive Board Members. Andrea David is the executive director of the ADAC foundation.
ADAC e.V.: Business year 2019
For the 2019 business year, ADAC e.V.'s earnings year from membership stood at €10.1 million. Including financial and holdings earnings, the club's annual result was €43.7 million. In addition to the dividend paid out by ADAC SE, the legal entity reuniting all ADAC commercial activities, continuous membership growth and an efficiency programme positively impacted the annual result.
Thanks to the continued positive development of membership numbers, ADAC e.V.'s income from membership fees and the co-financing of membership benefits has grown by €22.6 million from last year to reach €836.3 million in 2019. As in previous years, the bulk of this income or €631 million was spent on assistance services. At the end of 2020, ADAC e.V. had 20.2 million members.
ADAC SE
Having its registered office in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, ADAC SE is a company limited by shares under EU law offering mobility-oriented services and products to ADAC members, non-members and B2B customers. It comprises 28 affiliated companies and private equity firms including ADAC Versicherung AG (insurance), ADAC Finanzdienste GmbH (financial services), ADAC Autovermietung GmbH (car rental) and ADAC Service GmbH (vehicle-related services). A growth-oriented market player, ADAC SE progresses through digital transformation across all its businesses relying on innovation and sustainable technologies.
As part of its company object – the holding of interests in companies and the provision of business support services – ADAC SE also manages its
subsidiaries' shares in its possession.
ADAC e.V. holds a 57.74% majority of the ADAC SE shares. Other shareholders include the ADAC foundation (25.10%) and – via private equity companies – several ADAC regional clubs (17.16%).
Administrative headquarters
Except for its first two years of existence, ADAC has had its seat and headquarters in Munich. For the longest period of time, the address was Am
Westpark 8. That office building had finally become too small and was torn down in mid-2012. The new building is a 93-metre office tower (initial design by architects
Sauerbruch Hutton) in the borough of
Sendling
Sendling is a borough of Munich. It is located south-west of the city centre and spans the city boroughs Sendling and Sendling-Westpark. Sendling is subdivided into Obersendling, Mittersendling and Untersendling. Untersendling and Mittersendli ...
at Hansastrasse 19, built for approx. €350 million. ADAC staff started moving into the new facilities in December 2011. The building was officially inaugurated on March 22, 2012. A tower rísing to 23-stories, of which 5 stories make up the star-shaped plinth section, it has 125,000sqm of
usable floor area.
The tower shares the grounds with a historic landmark building in the foreground. The Sander Villa is now known as the ADAC clubhouse. It houses the ADAC library and several other collections and is used for meetings and conferences.
Affiliation
ADAC is affiliated with the following organisations:
*
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
, the international automobile federation
*
FIVA, the international historic vehicles federation
*
Euro NCAP
The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European voluntary car safety performance assessment programme (i.e. a New Car Assessment Program) based in Leuven (Belgium) formed in 1996, with the first results released in February ...
, a crash test consortium
* Pro Mobilität, a Berlin-based lobbying organisation promoting the expansion and maintenance of the road network
* Network
European Movement Germany
European Movement Germany (EM Germany) is a non-partisan network of interest groups in the field of EU politics in Germany. It cooperates closely with all EU stakeholders on a national and European level, most particularly with the German Federal ...
* EuropeNet24 (Europe-wide breakdown assistance for HGVs)
History
Founded on 24 May 1903, at the then
Hotel Silber (hist. building) in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, ADAC was originally named ''Deutsche Motorradfahrer-Vereinigung'' (German Motorcyclist Association) and renamed ''Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club'' (ADAC) in 1911, due to an enormous growth in membership of car owners. The Prussian eagle was selected as the emblem in the club's badge in appreciation of the Prussian royal family's support and patronage. Its most senior figure at the time was German Emperor and King of Prussia
Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...
.
The ADAC break-down assistance service was launched in Germany in 1927.
After 1933, in the process of Nazification – a.k.a.
Gleichschaltung
The Nazi term () or "coordination" was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party successively established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all aspects of German society and societies occupied b ...
– of German society, the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
amalgamated all motoring organisations in Germany in the DDAC (Der Deutsche Automobil-Club e.V.), an umbrella association that was allowed to exist in the shadow of the
NSKK (National Socialist Motor Corps). A DDAC appeal described the 1934 international Automobile Exhibition as a "show for the people" rather than an "exhibition for the more affluent bourgeois segment" of society. "Motoring for the people" (''Volkskraftfahrt''), it proclaimed, was more "in the spirit of the Führer".
After business activities resumed in 1946,
roadside assistance
Roadside assistance, also known as breakdown coverage, is a service that assists motorists, motorcyclists, or bicyclists whose vehicles have suffered a mechanical failure that either cannot be resolved by the motorist, or has prevented them from ...
was revived in 1954 under the name ''ADAC-Straßenwacht''. In 1954 Heinz Frölich became the first of (in that year) 56 ADAC patrolmen, equipped with a motorbike-sidecar combination,
on which the side car consisted of a large compartment filled with tools and parts for roadside repairs. These original ADAC "Gelbe Engel" ("Yellow Angels") used
"NSU Konsul" motorbikes.
At the end of 1962 ADAC announced the retirement of their motor-bike-sidecar combinations which would be replaced by 40 appropriately equipped
Volkswagen Beetles.
[ Equipment on the new cars included a flashing roof-light, repair tools, a radio-based communication device, compressed air canisters, a spade and broom set, and a basic "doctor-kit" incorporating blood-plasma.]
In 1974 the organisation had 3.8 million members at a time when there were 19.0 million passenger cars registered in Germany: by 1990 membership had risen to 10.2 million, with 35.5 million passenger cars registered in the country, so ADAC membership has grown more than twice as fast as national car ownership. Growth rates during the ensuing twenty years were greatly boosted by German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
.
May 2012 was when the organisation welcomed its 18 millionth member, a further milestone being reached in May 2013 as the ADAC fitted out its 10,000th roadside assistance vehicle, a Volkswagen Touran
The Volkswagen Touran is a car manufactured by German automaker Volkswagen since 2003 and sold in Europe and other select markets. A compact multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), it fills a gap in Volkswagen's model lineup between the Volkswagen Golf, wi ...
, kitted out with several hundred different tools and replacement parts.
In 1997, ADAC opened its new technical centre in Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria. At this site, 150 new cars are being tested and reviewed annually.
In 2003, ADAC voiced criticism of the supervised driving at age 17 pilot in Lower Saxony and celebrated its 100th anniversary.
The ADAC Stiftung "Gelber Engel" foundation was established in 2007. This foundation supports survivors of road accidents in financial distress to help them regain their mobility. In addition, the foundation funds accident rescue and accident research initiatives and institutions.
At the end of 2019 ADAC had 21.2 million members.
Traditional working fields
ADAC road patrol
The primary service provided by ADAC is roadside assistance
Roadside assistance, also known as breakdown coverage, is a service that assists motorists, motorcyclists, or bicyclists whose vehicles have suffered a mechanical failure that either cannot be resolved by the motorist, or has prevented them from ...
. The ADAC road patrol dates back to 1928 when the ''ADAC-Straßen-Hilfsdienst'' (roadside assistance service) was established. Back then, the patrols used sidecar motorcycles. After World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, during which ADAC was forced to stop operations, the provision of breakdown assistance services was resumed by establishing the ''ADAC Straßenwacht'' (road patrol) in 1954. In 1990, the road patrol started covering the New Länder. In 1951, ADAC also started to organise assistance outside German
ADAC operates a fleet of more than 1,700 yellow road patrol vehicles (yellow angels). In the 1960s and 1970s, the yellow Volkswagen Beetle, Beetles were a fixture on German roads. Today, ADAC deploys MPVs, each carrying up to of equipment ranging from the right tools for any situation to a digital diagnostic tool to small parts and replacement batteries. In the case of a car breakdown, members can request assistance over the phone or emergency roadside telephone on the motorway, over the Internet or via a smartphone app: A dispatcher at one of the five breakdown assistance centres takes down the necessary data and forwards them to the next available road patrol. The road patrol driver will call the member several minutes before arrival.
ADAC also provides Europe-wide breakdown assistance for HGVs. In Germany, ADAC uses special breakdown assistance vehicles for HGVs. In other European countries, ADAC partners provide assistance.
In 2021, the road patrols and ADAC mobility partners were dispatched in 3.5 million cases. In keeping with the previous years, the breakdowns were usually due to problems with the automotive battery
An automotive battery or car battery is a rechargeable battery that is used to start a motor vehicle. Its main purpose is to provide an electric current to the electric-powered starting motor, which in turn starts the chemically-powered internal ...
.
Air medical services
ADAC Luftrettung GmbH (established on 25 November 1981 as a regular German PLC or ''GmbH'') with a staff of 190 operates 55 ambulance
An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport.
Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...
and intensive care helicopters. Of this fleet, two are EC 145
The Eurocopter EC145 (now Airbus Helicopters H145) is a twin-engine light utility helicopter developed and manufactured by Airbus Helicopters. Originally designated as the ''BK 117'', the H145 is based upon the MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 C1, which ...
, 28 EC 135 and 15 BK 117
The MBB/Kawasaki BK 117 is a twin-engined medium utility–transport helicopter. It was jointly developed and manufactured by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) of Germany and Kawasaki of Japan. MBB was later purchased by Daimler-Benz and event ...
, stationed at 37 HEMS bases, two outside Germany. The organisation's 2014 turnover was 90 million EUR. ADAC Luftrettung gGmbH is the largest civilian rotor-wing air medical organisation in Germany, followed by DRF Luftrettung.
According to the pertinent register of companies, ADAC HEMS operations (''ADAC-Luftrettung'') were established on 25 November 1981 as a limited liability company (GmbH) named ''Arbeitskreis des ADAC zur Förderung der Luftrettung und zur Hebung der allgemeinen Verkehrssicherheit (ADAC-Luftrettung) Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung'' (ADAC working group to support air medical services and improve general road safety). On March 29, 2000, the organisation was renamed ADAC-Luftrettung GmbH and on August 26, 2013, ADAC Luftrettung gGmbH.
In an extension of its rotor-wing ambulance operations, ADAC holds shares in Aero-Dienst
Aero-Dienst GmbH & Co. KG is a German charter airline operating business jet and air ambulance flights out of Nuremberg Airport.
History
The company was founded in 1958 by the companies "Diehl" and "Faun", initially operating several jet and p ...
GmbH and is enabled to operate a small fleet of fixed-wing ambulance aircraft for mid-range medical repatriation:
· 2 Dornier Fairchild 328-300JET
· 1 Beechcraft King Air 350
· 1 Learjet 60
The Learjet 60 is a mid-size cabin, medium-range business jet aircraft manufactured by Bombardier Aerospace in Wichita, Kansas. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305A engines, it has a range (with 4 passengers and 2 crew) of with NBAA ...
ADAC Stiftung "Gelber Engel"
The ADAC Stiftung "Gelber Engel" gGmbH (yellow angel foundation) has been supporting the victims of road accidents since 2007. Its object is to provide assistance to people injured in road accidents. Its foundation capital is 10 million EUR. It is also used to fund research considered by ADAC to improve road safety. In September 2013, the foundation was registered as a ''gGmbH'' (a charitable limited company under German law).
ADAC Stiftung Sport
ADAC Stiftung Sport is a foundation set up in 1998 to promote and support German racing talent. Young motor racers showing adequate potential are offered the opportunity to benefit from the support of experts and partners of the foundation. In addition to material backing, the grantees are also eligible to benefit from training and coaching in many fields. In addition, the foundation also devotes funds to increasing motor sport safety and supporting non-professional racers injured in accidents.
Tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
ADAC offers a variety of tourism and travel-related information. This includes daily updates on travel-related topics in the ''Reise & Freizeit'' (travel & leisure) section of its website. ADAC tourist advice includes information on POI in the main holiday destinations, valuable details about the travel destination, rules of the road, toll roads, worldwide weather forecasts, travel and safety updates, mobility information related to city trips, and material regarding the Carnet de Passages.
Specialised information is available for the camping and boating communities. The ADAC tourism advisers also provide suggested tours for motorcyclists and drivers of historic vehicles.
ADAC members may visit a local office to get their information and advice in person or access what they need on adac.de and specialised apps.
ADAC champions automobile Tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
. In the course of German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, ADAC joined forces with the conservancy Schutzgemeinschaft Deutscher Wald (alliance for the protection of German forests) and the German tourism association Deutscher Tourismusverband to have the 2,500 kilometres Deutsche Alleenstraße tree-lined holiday route running the length of Germany designated.
Test and technical services
To bolster its means to conduct independent consumer protection research, ADAC established its own technical centre at Landsberg am Lech near Munich in 1997. This facility has given ADAC the capability of submitting vehicles, vehicle parts and accessories to technical tests revealing any safety-relevant flaws.
Ever since ADAC has conducted technical and mobility tests and published the test results in its media channels. Technical tests regularly include cars, tyres, child restraint systems, pedelecs, safety helmets and roof boxes etc. Of course, the ADAC test engineers look at new products such as wall boxes or e-scooters as soon as they become available. New technologies such as driver assistance systems all the way to autonomous driving are also under review as is data security in connected systems. ADAC mobility tests include consumer-oriented services and infrastructure testing, e.g. intercity coach stations, charging infrastructures for e-vehicles, P&R facilities, or the comparative pricing of public transport tickets.
The majority of ADAC's technical tests are conducted at its technical centre at Landsberg am Lech
Landsberg am Lech (Landsberg at the Lech) is a town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg am Lech.
Overview
Landsberg is situated o ...
. The facilities include an exhaust gas testing lab and a crash-test facility. The German Federal Motor Transport Authority recognised these facilities as test labs as compliant with the DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard. The testing operations ar
certified
to ISO 9001:2015.
Research
ADAC is an active member for the European Road Assessment Program (EuroRAP
European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) is an international nonprofit ( vzw) organisation registered in Belgium. It operates from Worting House, Basingstoke, Hampshire.
In partnership with national motoring organisations and local author ...
) in Germany. ADAC regularly publishes maps showing safety characteristics of German roads.
These maps based on EuroRAP's Road Protection Score Protocol (or Star Rating Protocol) are a measure of how well a road protects road users in the event of an accident. Data on road characteristics are gathered by driving through road inspections using a specially equipped RPS inspection vehicle (''Straßentest'' in German). Trained assessors then rate the safety features and hazards on the inspected road and use a standardised formula to produce a safety star rating, which is comparable across Europe.
ADAC also undertakes road inspections on behalf of other EuroRAP members, including the Road Safety Foundation in the UK.
Lobbying and public relations
ADAC is among Germany's most influential associations and one of the biggest lobbying associations worldwide. Public relations activities focus on topics such as maintaining motorised mobility, traffic law and fines Fines may refer to:
*Fines, Andalusia, Spanish municipality
*Fine (penalty)
* Fine, a dated term for a premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term
*Fines, ore or other products with a sma ...
, the safety of tunnels and car ferries as well as road safety education.
In recent years, ADAC has developed a growing interest in other transport operators and modes, for instance, by conducting tests on local public transport and urban cycling. ADAC regularly issues press releases and publishes the ''ADAC Motorwelt
''ADAC Motorwelt'' (German language, German: ''ADAC Motoring'') is a German Automobile magazine, automobile and List of travel magazines, travel magazine published in Munich, Germany. It is a membership magazine of ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Aut ...
'' club magazine to inform its approx. 21.2m members.
In 2020, the ''ADAC Motorwelt'' has become a quarterly publication (four issues per year). In the first quarter of 2020, the Burda affiliate BCN started to handle everything from production and printing to editorial services to marketing to the distribution of the ''ADAC Motorwelt''; the mobility club continues to be its publisher, and editor-in-chief Martin Kunz continues to oversee the content. At the same time, ADAC enhances and expands its digital communication channels.
Starting in 2020, the new ''ADAC Motorwelt'' is available at the ADAC local offices, travel agencies and driver safety locations as well as the EDEKA and Netto supermarkets. All members need to do to get a copy of the magazine is show their membership card.
Campaigning for Safe Road Design
The European Campaign for Safe Road Design The European Campaign for Safe Road Design aims to influence the European Union to make safe road design a European transport priority and save unnecessary deaths on Europe's roads. The campaign is a partnership between 28 road safety stakeholders ...
is a partnership between 28 major European road safety stakeholders that is calling for the EC to invest in safe road infrastructure initiatives which could cut deaths on European roads by 33% in less than a decade. ADAC is the campaign's partner in Germany.
Road safety
In expert events and articles, ADAC has taken a position on issues such as road safety, transport law, transport policy and traffic planning as well as on environmental protection issues.
In 2006, ADAC published a series of critical press release
A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...
s on the issue of driving licence shopping – i.e. getting licensed in another country after having one's driving licence revoked in one's home country – and advocated the speedy harmonisation of driver licensing in Europe.
ADAC also offers driver safety training at 11 driver safety centres and 40 training facilities nationwide. The declared objective of the training is to increase driver confidence and make road users safer, raise awareness of critical situations and impart some theoretical instruction in vehicle technology. There are special car, motorcycle, van, bus and HGV training modules.
Some ADAC positions are very controversial, questioning the benefit for road safety of some planned measures or rather implying the opposite.
The club had argued its opposition to a general speed limit on German motorways by citing the finding that statistically the motorways are already the safest roads in Germany in terms of accidents and that a speed limit would not significantly reduce the severity of accidents.[, Press Release, June 2010.] Supporters of a speed limit such as the argue that the measure would indeed reduce the risk and the severity of accidents and would help avoid motorway fatalities and severe injuries to the order of hundreds. In the light of an ambivalent opinion both of the public at large and among ADAC members with regard to the implementation of a general speed limit on German motorways, ADAC is "nicht mehr grundsätzlich" ("no longer in principle") against autobahn speed limits and will no longer make any recommendations to the policy makers on this issue as of 2020. In fact, current studies and statistics had produced a very heterogeneous view on the effects of a speed limit both in respect of climate change mitigation and road safety.
Emergency key service
Since January 2019, ADAC members can call ADAC for assistance when they have locked themselves out of their homes. This is possible in a pilot project running in the urban areas of Munich, Berlin and Hamburg.
ADAC ridesharing club
The ADAC ridesharing club (''Mitfahrclub'') is a platform for ridesharing.
See also
* Breakdown (vehicle)
A vehicle breakdown is a mechanical or electrical failure of a motor vehicle in such a way that the underlying problem prevents the vehicle from being operated or impedes the vehicle's operation so significantly that it is very difficult, nearl ...
* Breakdown Cover
Roadside assistance, also known as breakdown coverage, is a service that assists motorists, motorcyclists, or bicyclists whose vehicles have suffered a mechanical failure that either cannot be resolved by the motorist, or has prevented them from ...
* European Campaign for Safe Road Design The European Campaign for Safe Road Design aims to influence the European Union to make safe road design a European transport priority and save unnecessary deaths on Europe's roads. The campaign is a partnership between 28 road safety stakeholders ...
* EuroRAP
European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) is an international nonprofit ( vzw) organisation registered in Belgium. It operates from Worting House, Basingstoke, Hampshire.
In partnership with national motoring organisations and local author ...
References
External links
*
Official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adac
Financial services companies established in 1903
Automobile associations
Road transport in Germany
Road safety organizations
Transport organisations based in Germany
Emergency road services