Dialing 911

[84porsche]

I am hoping you guys can shed some light on an issue that is really bothering me. I was on the 405 going northbound today around noon and a 2 car collision occurs sending one of the vehicles into the center divider facing oncoming traffic and the other to the shoulder or the driver managed to get the vehicle to the shoulder. I was about 5 or 6 cars back and pulled over to see if one of the drivers was ok and dialed 911.

First of all after dialing, I had to press 1 if it was an emergency which was ridiculous, I mean why else would you dial 911, as a prank and then it took approx 4 minutes to speak to an operator who told me that I don't need to be at the accident scene if I was not involved. The driver could have been injured and the response time for 911 and for the officer was 10 minutes that I was with the driver. If I didn't pull over, it's possible that another car would have smashed into her again.

Help me understand this. I am dumbfounded that the system works like this. I have dialed 911 only 4 times, all with accidents and the response time is horrible to first speak to someone and second until someone can be at the scene.

[varmint]

there are people who call 911 twenty times a day to complain that they ate an un-ripe banana. and now their mouth is all starchy.

just one of the consequences of living in a society full of idiots.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by varmint

there are people who call 911 twenty times a day to complain that they ate an un-ripe banana. and now their mouth is all starchy.

just one of the consequences of living in a society full of idiots.

I'll try and keep the calls to 10 a day. Sheesh!

Hey Cowboy! When we stopped on the 101 last September for the guy in the black Targa, 911 too a few mins, but I never really got very far with the lady, as the CHP dude showed.

[3.2 CAB]

Some localities have a specialized 911 number that you should call in the event of emergencies. Sometimes it may be HP911, *911, etc. I know Cali has some of their own deals going on so you would have to know which district and their 911 calling policies were, in order to get a direct line, instead of going through the automated system.

[slodave]

As far as I know, if calling from a cell phone in Cali, just dial 911.

[old man neri]

Up here in Ontario the OPP (Ontario Provicial Police) have a great number "*OPP".

I had to call it once, it didn't even ring once, I was immediately in contaact with an OPP dispatcher. I was impressed.

Highways near you may have such a thing, but I do agree, having to wait 4 min after calling 911 is BS.

[Stanley]

Originally Posted by 3.2 CAB

Some localities have a specialized 911 number that you should call in the event of emergencies. Sometimes it may be HP911, *911, etc. I know Cali has some of their own deals going on so you would have to know which district and their 911 calling policies were, in order to get a direct line, instead of going through the automated system.

Very good information- everyone should have the number of their local PD emergency line. I have a few of these numbers programmed into my phone. The two times I have used them I got right through to an operator and got excellent response times.

[cashflyer]

Originally Posted by 84porsche

Help me understand this. I am dumbfounded that the system works like this.

You're in Cali.

[The Gaijin]

New York City has instituted a "311" system for general complains.. Apparently this has unburdend the 911 system.

[Jeff Higgins]

I used to have a very irresponsible neighbor who let his (very destructive) dog simply roam the neighborhood. After trying to deal with him for far too long, I finally called our city's police on their "administrative" number, just to speak with some one about the problem. I was told to dial 911 instead. I protested that this was not an emergency of any kind, but was told that did not matter. I was told that was my only way to get some one out to discuss, or to do anything about the problem. So I just shot the fuchin' dog...

I think what has happened in some jurisdictions is that the agencies we would like to contact (police, fire, etc.) in non-emergency situations have cut their own phone staffs, relying instead upon 911 service to act as their answering service. Doing so has diluted the original intent of 911 as an emergency service.

[Moses]

Now we have signs all over the road encouraging folks to use 911 to report drunk drivers.



What mostly gets reported are speeders, anyone who switches lanes without signaling, people who cut you off in traffic, etc. The incredible volume of 911 calls the new DUI fishing expeditions have generated are causing 911 response delays.

[84porsche]

Originally Posted by slodave

Hey Cowboy! When we stopped on the 101 last September for the guy in the black Targa, 911 too a few mins, but I never really got very far with the lady, as the CHP dude showed.

The memories. He didn't like my maneuver very much. But out of respect to the accident, I won't post that one.

[84porsche]

Originally Posted by Moses

Now we have signs all over the road encouraging folks to use 911 to report drunk drivers.



What mostly gets reported are speeders, anyone who switches lanes without signaling, people who cut you off in traffic, etc. The incredible volume of 911 calls the new DUI fishing expeditions have generated are causing 911 response delays.

So true. The funny thing is that most 911 calls from cell phones are routed directly to the CHP which I learned from a local accident except in another case it took 35 minutes for the local police to show up by the time the call got routed to their dispatch.

[DavidI]

When you use a cell phone to call 911, the calls are routed to the CHP no matter where you are. CHP gets overwhelmed with cell phone 911 calls because 20-30 callers call for every accident. When a land line is used, the 911 call goes to the proper police jurisdiction.

Many departments are evolving to software that uses cell towers to locate and route cell 911 calls to the proper jurisdiction. The software is not perfect yet because some of the older cell phones do not have a built in GPS and give the location as the nearest cell tower.

I hope this somewhat explains it Chris, David

[Jeff Higgins]

I just gotta love the irony of this one - use your cell phone to report other bad drivers.