911

[davevabch]

I was at a corner talking to a friend the other day, All of a sudden a horrific BOOM! A pickup truck with a Teen was speeding down the two lane road and a Female teen pulled out in front of him. We rushed to aid the drivers. Quicky checked on them and turned off the engines and as soon as possible, I called 911.

PLACED ON HOLD
WENT BACK TO CALL
PLACED ON HOLD

Both Teens were on Cell Phones at time of accident.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

Damn cell phones.....texting or just using a cell phone is almost as bad as driving while intoxicated in my opinion.

Even with the blue tooth/hands free capabilities in todays vehicles it is a distraction. Never fails, you come up on a new fancy vehicle with all the modern bells and whistles, going 15MPH slower than speed limit, causing folks to swerved around them, and they are holding a cell phone up to their ear or in the hands looking down at it typing with their thumb.....then there are the vehicles all over the lane.....yup they are looking down at a phone....drives me insane.

 

[davevabch]

A cell phone will get you killed before any bullet.
The Dem's always on a roll to ban guns. Seldom they ever mention cell phones.

[h2]2017 U.S. Cell Phone and Driving Statistics[/h2]

• Parents with young children were more 13 percent likely to be distracted while driving than adults with no small children
• 3,166 people were killed by distracted driving in 2017
• In 2017, there were 34,247 distracted driving accidents
• 15,341 drivers aged 15-29 were involved in fatal crashes due to distraction or cell phone use

**** The causality numbers increase each and every year.

 

[contender]

911 emergency calls should never be "put on hold" period. It was built to save lives & has for a long time. When that system fails,, we lose faith in our system even more.

Texting & driving or fooling with your phone while driving is likely the cause of more accidents than DUI's anymore. But they do NOT want to push for harsh laws, AND punishment for such stupidity because so many do it all the time.

 

[Jeepnik]

Yes distracted driving causes accidents and fatalities. But no politician is going to try and enact laws (or at least insist one the enforcement of) to curtail it. They all want reelection.

So many of our ills could be solved by enforcing current laws and severe penalties for violating those laws.

 

[hittman]

When certain locations defund the police, the 911 budget may be in that system too.

 

[woodsy]

Cell phones, used by drivers, is one of the main reasons I and my friends have curtailed riding bicycles.

 

[BULL'S-EYE]

With all the idiots that I see, and on a daily basis, paying more attention the their phones than their driving responsibilities. I'm frankly amazed that there aren't MANY more accidents occurring. My phone stays in my pocket while I'm driving, if someone calls or texts me, I'll get back to them when I'm parked somewhere, or get back home.

 

[redhawker]

I did Police Dispatch for a while. Whenever there was a traffic accident, unless it was very minor, the whole board would light up with calls. Of course, we were taught to find out what each call was because there was always a possibility someone calling in right then could be calling about something else, somewhere else. And sometimes, we did put them on hold if they wanted to tell us something they thought was important. But the call usually went something like... "911. What is your emergency?" They'd say something like, "There's a big crash at (location we already have units rolling to)." We'd say, "Ok, we already have units en route to that." Usually, they say something like, "Ok, thanks." and hang up (because all they wanted to do was report it, and we've just told them it's already been reported). Or, they might say they have some info to add, then we'd put them on hold and tell them we'd be right back with them while we quickly screened the other 20 calls coming in. But yeah, if they didn't at least find out what the call was about before putting you on hold, that's not right.

Also, I'll preface this by saying my dispatch jobs are ancient history. The first one was with a small town PD and we had 6 or 8 lines on an office phone, one dispatcher on the phones, the other on the radio...period. We used 3 x 6 cards in slots in the dispatch console to keep track of calls and units. The other was at a brand new large PD facility during the infancy of Computer Aided Dispatching with 8 to 12 dispatchers working phones and 2 dispatchers working 2 different radio frequencies, each frequency covering about half the city, but the radio had the capability to go on both frequencies for hot calls. Interestingly enough, I was much busier at the big PD, even with all the help there, than at the little one. I give this info because I have no idea how dispatch is handled nowadays and what new-fangled "magic" dispatch equipment they have today.

 

[Watertender]

My son was killed by a texting driver hitting him head on while he was riding a motorcycle. The motorcycle had triple headlights. The center was a flicker light and the other 2 were spotlights.

The driver was making a left turn and hit the motorcycle with the front right corner of the K20 Suburban they were driving. The impact smashed in the entire front of the vehicle and bent the motorcycle almost in half.

The poor kid was in a coma for 10 months and the only thing the driver was charged with was "Failure to Yield the Right of Way".... Texting was not a crime or even a violation at the time....

Should have been vehicular homicide....

 

[Mobuck]

While I have little knowledge of 'big city' 911 response, my Daughter worked the overnight 911 operator spot for 2 different counties. It was a one person job w/o backup so any 'multiple call' action required a 'triage' of what was most important and/or which caller got immediate response. As mentioned, getting stuck on one emergency might lead to disaster if another emergency occurred.

 

[contender]

I have no problem with a 911 dispatch operator putting a person on hold to get additional info AFTER they find out what the call was about. 911 is to be used for emergencies,, and if a person is calling to report anything where medical assistance is necessary,, they should stay get immediate assistance. To call 911 to report a non-emergency or something where lives aren't in immediate need of assistance,, being placed on hold can be acceptable.

 

[Fox Mike]

A woman texting totaled my grandson Richard's car and banged him up. Fortunately she hit the passenger side.

 

[JohnL]

Yes distracted driving causes accidents and fatalities. But no politician is going to try and enact laws (or at least insist one the enforcement of) to curtail it. They all want reelection.

So many of our ills could be solved by enforcing current laws and severe penalties for violating those laws.

I agree that distracted driving is the cause of many traffic accidents. There are elected officials who have attempted to legislate partial solutions. I have seen that in my nearby town. The law banning cell phones and driving is not enforced. I see law officers talking on phones and driving. Effective enforcement of laws means arrests or citations, prosecution, and judgement. When any of the these three fail to do their jobs the law enacted are useless.

 

[JohnL]

Good for you for responding. Sorry to read about your dispatch system. That is a common enough occurrence, being put on hold.

 

[Watertender]

I agree that distracted driving is the cause of many traffic accidents. There are elected officials who have attempted to legislate partial solutions. I have seen that in my nearby town. The law banning cell phones and driving is not enforced. I see law officers talking on phones and driving. Effective enforcement of laws means arrests or citations, prosecution, and judgement. When any of the these three fail to do their jobs the law enacted are useless.

It won't change until some politician or rich family loses a family member to a talking or texting driver. Sadly texting drivers are like drunk drivers in the fact that they don't stop doing it. The person that hit my son still texts and drives.

Every day I see morons doing stupid things on the road as they endanger everyone around them with their actions. A friend of mine says you have to drive like you are a fighter pilot that is out of ammo and he is 100% correct.

 

[JohnL]

Even though it is costly to operate with just me and sacks of groceries, I am in a truck weighing 8,100 pounds with a sturdy front bumper and a solid rear bumper, formerly mounted on a 1951 Dodge tow truck as a front bumper. I am strapped into my seat with a three point racing harness. If I could reinforce the doors I would add that.

 

[JohnL]

I have no problem with a 911 dispatch operator putting a person on hold to get additional info AFTER they find out what the call was about. 911 is to be used for emergencies,, and if a person is calling to report anything where medical assistance is necessary,, they should stay get immediate assistance. To call 911 to report a non-emergency or something where lives aren't in immediate need of assistance,, being placed on hold can be acceptable.

I keep the non emergency number on my phone for our county central dispatch. This for the very reason you mention above.

 

[JohnL]

While I have little knowledge of 'big city' 911 response, my Daughter worked the overnight 911 operator spot for 2 different counties. It was a one person job w/o backup so any 'multiple call' action required a 'triage' of what was most important and/or which caller got immediate response. As mentioned, getting stuck on one emergency might lead to disaster if another emergency occurred.

That should be a two operator operation. The job can get busy.

 

[redhawker]

I see law officers talking on phones and driving.

If you look up the law in many places, Law Enforcement is exempt from the cell restrictions... For example, (specifically check section d)...

(California Vehicle Code) - 23123. (a) A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.

(b) A violation of this section is an infraction punishable by a base fine of twenty dollars ($20) for a first offense and fifty dollars ($50) for each subsequent offense.

(c) This section does not apply to a person using a wireless telephone for emergency purposes, including, but not limited to, an emergency call to a law enforcement agency, health care provider, fire department, or other emergency services agency or entity.

(d) This section does not apply to an emergency services professional using a wireless telephone while operating an authorized emergency vehicle, as defined in Section 165, in the course and scope of his or her duties.

(e) This section does not apply to a person driving a schoolbus or transit vehicle that is subject to Section 23125.

(f) This section does not apply to a person while driving a motor vehicle on private property.

(g) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2011.

(Amended (as added by Stats. 2006, Ch. 290, Sec. 5) by Stats. 2007, Ch. 214, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2008. Section operative July 1, 2011, by its own provisions.)

Now, it does say "...in the course and scope of his or her duties." so I'm sure it does get violated all the time when Officer X calls the wife or something like that, but unless you could listen to the call, how would you know? Most police units have more distractions than a cell phone anyway. They have a two-way radio, a computer, a license plate reader, a radar unit, and maybe some stuff I didn't even think of.

 

[JohnL]

I get your point. However there is a big difference between holding a mic for a few seconds and an extended conversation on a cell phone, as you know. What I noticed was not hands free talking. Certainly, those call could be urgent and our officers are fairly alert people, for the most part. My point had more to do with their being a model for citizens. Something along the lines of "HE can do it. So why can't ?" That kind of thing.

 

[Mobuck]

"Most police units have more distractions than a cell phone anyway. "
Agreed BUT: they still shouldn't allow those distractions to impede their driving. Two years back, I was nearly rear ended by a State Hwy Patrol officer who appeared to be texting-his phone/tablet was visible as he slid past. I was towing a farm wagon loaded with grain(yes it did have a SMV sticker on the back and my warning flashers were blinking). SHP car was at least hitting the speed limit while I was @ 35MPH. SHP officer swerved into oncoming traffic (a school bus no less) to avoid contact as both bus and I took evasive moves to prevent a very serious accident. I called SHP HQ to report the incident and later talked with the SHP 'Public Relations' officer about this near miss. I was fairly snarky and coarse with my comments but the PR guy took it relatively meekly knowing I was right. I didn't see that SHP officer in this area after that conversation.

 

[Richbaker]

Damn cell phones.....texting or just using a cell phone is almost as bad as driving while intoxicated in my opinion.

Even with the blue tooth/hands free capabilities in todays vehicles it is a distraction. Never fails, you come up on a new fancy vehicle with all the modern bells and whistles, going 15MPH slower than speed limit, causing folks to swerved around them, and they are holding a cell phone up to their ear or in the hands looking down at it typing with their thumb.....then there are the vehicles all over the lane.....yup they are looking down at a phone....drives me insane.

Studies show it's worse...