Public affairs

Campaigning for the motorist

Drivers can count on us to champion their interests. Our public affairs team, led by AA President Edmund King OBE, is the most informed group of motoring experts in the UK.

So whatever the subject – fuel prices, vehicle licensing, road pricing, taxation, vehicle technology, tyres, traffic schemes, parking, road engineering, driver behaviour – we have the answers.

Representing the motorist

Campaigning and lobbying are at the heart of our work. It can involve giving evidence to a House of Commons Transport Committee, meeting the Secretary of State for Transport, speaking at national conferences, or briefing the media or an MP.

In addition, Edmund King OBE, also visiting Professor of Transport at Newcastle University, represents the AA on the government's Motorists' Forum, and on motoring think tanks and working groups. You may also hear him speaking on national TV and radio.

And our campaigning has paid dividends, such as an end to cowboy clamping, stopping fuel duty rises, making the government think again about road pricing, getting an extra £300m to fix potholes, and fair play on parking tickets.

Research

To shape policy and campaigns we gather information from many sources, including the AA-Yonder (formally Populus) Motoring Panel and AA Streetwatch.

AA-Populus Motoring Panel

Your views on motoring count. And you can have your say on Europe's largest motoring opinion panel. Around 20,000 drivers and AA Members already complete an AA-Yonder survey every month, covering topical, motoring related issues.

They tell us that their biggest concerns are the state of the roads – congestion and potholes – and the cost of motoring. We'll continue to highlight these issues.

AA Streetwatch

Thousands of AA Streetwatch volunteers have undertaken short surveys to give us detailed information on the state of the roads at a local level. You can read the surveys and see what our volunteers had to say about the true state of the nation's roads.

Reports

For recent research and reports, please see our news and motoring advice pages.

Significant reports from 2010 and earlier are still available in our archive.