Laura was waiting for help after her car broke down at night... then a man pulled up in a beat-up vehicle and demanded she open her door

Published: 03:56, 29 June 2026 | Updated: 04:17, 29 June 2026 A young woman has unloaded at a roadside assistance company after claiming she was left fearing for her life when her car broke down in the middle of the night. Comedian Laura Johnston, 27, was driving to a gig in rural Australia when her car broke down in a small country town midway through her two-hour trip in February. She said she called a roadside assistance company - which she chose not to name - for help and the ensuing events left her completely rattled. Ms Johnston said a man pulled up in a car 20 minutes later claiming to be from the company - even though she was told earlier it would be two hours. 'I'm all alone and suddenly this small car pulls up really fast, like drives through the town really fast,' she said. 'This small car also has a broken back window, it's driving really erratically, and parks directly next to me. 'Then this guy gets out, marches over to my driver's side door and starts motioning for me to open it aggressively.' Ms Johnston wanted proof of identification before she opened the door, and claims the man erupted at her in response. Comedian Laura Johnston, 27, was driving to a gig in rural Australia when her car broke down in a small country town midway through her two-hour trip in February  'He goes, "Well f*** you", and storms away back to his car and then yells over his shoulder, "You're just going to have to wait until the guys from Canberra come now",' she said. 'In my head, I'm just going over the Canberra comment because why is there a plural and which guys and why wouldn't you identify yourself?' Ms Johnston called the company again and claimed she was told the contractor was still on their way.  'I call the company to see if he was one of them and also check the tracker to see how long it is until their person is meant to get here, and it says that he's still over 80 minutes away,' she said. 'I am completely convinced that some random saw that my hazard lights were on and tried to get me out of my car and that I have just saved my life potentially by not getting out of my car.  'I'm also convinced that this aggressive man now knows that I'm stuck here and that I can't move and that he might come back.'  Ms Johnston claimed she was later told the man was in fact a contractor for the company and that identification wasn't necessary.    'I was told the policy for roadside assistance companies in Australia was that they don't have to provide or have identification on them and that the contractors or subcontractors in rural areas don't have to have a uniform,' she said.  Ms Johnston said a man pulled up in a suspicious car 20 minutes later claiming to be from the company - even though she was earlier told it would be two hours  'This means our food delivery apps have better safety procedures to make sure that the food gets to the right person than our roadside assistance companies have.' Ms Johnston has started a petition, demanding roadside assistance companies enforce better safety procedures.   'Surely every time a contractor is sent out in a roadside assistance job, they are provided with a unique code and you are provided with a unique code and when they arrive, you compare codes,' she said.  'I don’t think it’s safe or fair to be expecting us to just trust, without any identification, that the person who is asking us to unlock our door when we are alone and stuck in a car that won’t move hasn’t just seen our hazard lights, guessed which roadside assistance company, and isn’t just an opportunist. 'I believe that that is putting us in an inherently dangerous situation and that we should fix it by changing the policy.' Many Aussies said they agreed with her, saying they were shocked a system wasn't already in place. 'As the parent of young adult daughters, I strongly support introducing a simple verification process for roadside assistance callouts to provide peace of mind for families like mine,' one said.  'It doesn't matter if it's a short or long drive, in a remote area or in the middle of a busy street, we should feel safe when we call roadside assistance,' a second said.  'I hope this gains so much traction that the company involved, and others like it, are compelled to make changes to increase safety and security for consumers,' a third said.  Daily Mail contacted Ms Johnston for comment. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. 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