NRMA history

In February 1920, a group of business friends, led by the well-known racing car driver Boyd Edkins, felt the need to start a roads association in response to the new wonder of the age - the motor car.

Five "automobile carriages" had been exhibited at the Royal Agricultural Show in 1902. Many Sydney gentlemen felt they just had to have this new form of transport. By 1920 there were 20,000 such vehicles on the road, a figure that was to multiply to 60,000 just four years later.

But the roads in NSW were dreadful.

The 50-strong group of friends decided an organisation was vitally needed to protect motorists requirements and offer roadside assistance and guidance.

The NSW branch of the National Roads Association (NRA) was born and in 1923 became the National Roads and Motorists' Association. From the outset, the NRMA looked for ways to improve conditions for its Members.

These included:

• Suggesting that major NSW state highways be marked with 'colour trails', strips of colour banded by white, painted on telegraph posts, fences and trees.
• Installing highway lighthouses at certain danger spots, which flashed a small warning beacon.
• Gaining the improvement of caution, direction and road name signs throughout NSW and the display of place names on all post offices.
• Setting up a system to examine and regulate motor mechanics in order to protect motorists in the repair of their vehicles.
• Introducing in 1924 "official guides", forerunners of the modern day NRMA flagship, the Road Service Patrol.
• Introducing a range of insurance policies specifically designed for drivers through NRMA Insurance Limited.
• Offering free legal advice.
• Organising concessions on accommodation rates.
• Providing touring information and maps. 
   

Official guides to the road

A photograph published in the NRMA magazine in 1924, shows a car broken down in the middle of a street being attended to by three uniformed men. The caption read: "Repairs while you wait - Guides rendering Mechanical First Aid to Motor Car." This is the earliest known image of the NRMA road service.   

 

These early official guides of the road, dressed in smart double-breasted khaki uniforms with breeches, leggings and caps, were "all returned sailors or soldiers with distinguished war records and each of exemplary character. Each of them is a skilled mechanic and licensed motor car driver . All of them know a good deal about ambulance work and first aid ..."

One of the services they offered was car minding. In 1924, it was against the law to leave a motor vehicle unattended in the centre of Sydney. These Guides would patrol the streets, moving Members' vehicles from one parking spot to another. Riding Douglas Motor Cycles, the Guides patrolled popular weekend spots - Tom Uglys Punt, The Spit, Manly and Milson's Point, ready to provide cheerful assistance and mechanical first aid - their slogan was Never Refuse Motorists Assistance. 

Always Improving

In 1931, the Association objected to motorists' taxes being used to upgrade rail and tramways, arguing that these monies should be used to improve roads. Also high on the NRMA's list of priorities was road safety and as a result of pressure from the organisation, a road safety campaign was introduced to schools. Drink driving was another education program undertaken by the NRMA.

By 1939 there were more than 121 country depots. One long-serving country depot proprietor remembers how in the early days, it was not unusual to have stranded Members sleeping the night on his lounge room floor.

Throughout the fifties and sixties, the post war economic boom saw car ownership explode and in 1972, the Car Credits business which helped buyers to finance their vehicles, was renamed NRMA Finance Ltd. This business evolved into the NRMA Financial Services Division in 1994.

NRMA Insurance was also a winner, providing motorists with preferential treatment if they were not involved in crashes, removing penalties for windscreen replacement, waiving the under-25 excess on minor claims and introducing a Homesure Policy covering buildings and contents. By 1981, NRMA Insurance was the largest non-government home and contents insurer in NSW and the ACT.

In 1994, NRMA offered products from eight offices in Victoria and in March 1995 moved into Queensland.

The demutualisation process in 2000 split the organisation in two, creating an opportunity for growing both the financial services sector and the Members benefits and roadside assistance area.