Modern road side assistance? (update: no minor issue)

Henk Nooteboom is experienced rally driver - amongst other palmares also winner of The 100 Miles of Amsterdam 2012.  He reports about a recent holiday in France with his 1921 Stutz Open Tourer. Our jaws dropped when we came to the end of the story...

"This is what happens if the blocking ring (which has to keep the axle in place) of the driven rear axle breaks and no longer is doing what it should do: the rearwheel + brakedrum about 30cm next to the car, no propulsion and, worse, hardly any brakes left. Nevertheless I managed to stop with the combined help of hand- en footbrake.

This happened last month, when we were on holiday in the South of France with our 1921 Stutz open tourer. It made that we had to continue our holiday and travel home in a rental car! This was the very first time since we started driving classic or vintage cars in 1975. During all this we were professional assisted bij de Royal Dutch Automobile Club (KNAC)."

editor: Henk, you write "professionally assisted". In what sense? We don't understand why the assisting forces were not capable putting back the wheel in place and make a small repair in order for Henk and family to continue. Or do we make the wrong assumption that the halfshaft was not only dislocated but also broken? It is saddening to read that roadside assistance has dropped to a level that with rleative minor issues the only thing they can do is to haul the car to a garage.