Cold Weather Doubles TCS Roadside Assistance Calls
12.01.2026 | from Touring Club Suisse (TCS)
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Image rights: Touring Club Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzero - TCS
12.01.2026, The severe cold in the first week of January brought many cars to a standstill. The roadside assistance of the Touring Club Switzerland was called more than 2,000 times last Monday alone. The following cold days also caused many car batteries to fail.
Due to the cold first week of January, the roadside assistance of the Touring Club Switzerland recorded record-high daily volumes. On average, TCS handles around 1,000 breakdowns per day. On Monday, January 5 alone, there were 2,232 and the following day 1,884. In almost 60 percent of the cases, the reason was starter batteries failing due to the cold.
The 12-volt battery is a common weak point in winter. It typically has a lifespan of about five years. However, in winter it is heavily strained due to the cold and the use of auxiliary devices like seat, steering wheel, and windshield heaters. Battery failures are common during this time. Failures can be avoided by checking the battery's condition and replacing it if necessary before the onset of severe cold.
2025 without extreme weather conditions
Last year, TCS assisted 368,000 times with breakdowns. There were balanced weather conditions, with even temperatures in the summer without extreme heat days, and also - compared to 2024 - milder temperatures in early 2025 as well as at the start of winter in November and December. Extreme snowfall like in November 2024, which paralyzed the entire northwest of Switzerland at the time, did not occur. It's worth mentioning that modern vehicles report anomalies (battery status, tire pressure loss, or system errors) early, so that drivers can visit a workshop in a timely manner.
The most common cause of breakdowns, even in the annual review, is the starter battery, both for fuel-driven cars and electric vehicles. In 2025, over a third of the incidents were due to starter battery problems (37.2 percent), the second most common reason for breakdowns being tire damage (16.5 percent). The continuation rate is 80 percent.
Press contact:
Vanessa Flack, Media Spokesperson TCS
Tel. 058 827 34 41
vanessa.flack@tcs.ch
Editor's note: Image rights belong to the respective publisher. Image rights: Touring Club Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzero - TCS
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Touring Club Suisse (TCS)
Since its founding in Geneva in 1896, the Touring Club Switzerland has been serving the Swiss population. It is committed to safety, sustainability, and self-determination in personal mobility, both politically and socially.
With over 2,000 employees and 23 regional sections, the largest mobility club in Switzerland offers its more than 1.6 million members a wide range of services related to mobility, health, and leisure activities.
A help service is rendered every 70 seconds. Annually, 200 patrol officers are on Swiss roads with about 361,000 operations, enabling more than 80% of cases to continue immediately. The ETI center organizes about 63,000 help services annually, including 3,500 medical assessments and over 1,300 repatriations. TCS Ambulance is the largest private operator for rescue services and patient transport in Switzerland with 400 employees, 22 logistics bases, and around 45,000 operations per year. Legal protection offices handle 52,000 cases and provide about 10,000 legal consultations.
Since 1908, TCS has been committed to greater safety in mobility - made possible by membership. It develops teaching materials, awareness, and prevention campaigns, tests mobility infrastructures, and advises authorities. Each year, TCS distributes around 115,000 reflective belts and 90,000 reflective vests to children to ensure their mobility is also safe. Training centers welcome 42,000 participants for education and training in all vehicle categories annually.
With 32 sites and around 900,000 overnight stays, TCS is also the largest camping provider in Switzerland. The TCS Mobility Academy researches and shapes transformations in transportation, such as drone vertical mobility or shared mobility, for example with the 400 electric cargo bikes 'carvelo' and 43,000 users. TCS is a signatory of the Roadmap Electromobility 2025.
Note: The "About Us" text is taken from public sources or from the company profile on HELP.ch.
Source: Touring Club Suisse (TCS), Press release
Original article published on: Kälte verdoppelt Einsätze der Pannenhilfe des TCS