ndallen@uunet.uu.net (Nigel Allen) (08/16/90)
From {Motor Truck} Magazine, Toronto, August 1990
For truckers, reporting an emergency on the famous
Pennsylvania Turnpike is now as easy as punching three buttons on the
cellular telephone.
It's as easy as dialling three digits, *11, to report
accidents, incidents or calls for assistance. The call goes directly
to dispatchers and state police on 24 hour duty.
Seven cellular carriers in Pennsylvania are cooperating with
the turnpike authority to provide the toll-free service, the first
highway in the U.S. to provide cellular direct-dial emergency service.
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[Notes from NDA: This is from a trucking magazine that isn't terribly
telecommunications-literate, and sounds like a rewritten press
release. I do not know whether the claim of being first is correct.]0002003441@mcimail.com (Paul Wilczynski) (08/20/90)
Nigel Allen <contact!ndallen@uunet.uu.net>, from a press release, writes ... > From {Motor Truck} Magazine, Toronto, August 1990 >Seven cellular carriers in Pennsylvania are cooperating with >the turnpike authority to provide the toll-free service, the first >highway in the U.S. to provide cellular direct-dial emergency service. The first highway, huh? They must have a pretty sophisticated system to stop the service from working once I get off the Turnpike! <grin> Massachusetts has had a similar system for quite a while. It's not restricted (!) to highways, though.
gt0818a@prism.gatech.edu (Paul E. Robichaux) (08/20/90)
Actually, the Onslow County, NC area offers (and has for at least a year; maybe longer) a direct link to the NC highway patrol. Dialing "*HP" will connect you to a dispatcher. This systems seems like a good replacement for 911 calls while on the highway; it doesn't suffer many of the liabilities of cellular 911 calls that were discussed here a while back. Paul E. Robichaux BEST: gt0818a@prism.gatech.edu OK: ...!gatech!prism!gt0818a Of course I don't speak for Tech.
W T Sykes <wts@burl.att.com> (08/23/90)
In article <11097@accuvax.nwu.edu> gt0818a@prism.gatech.edu (Paul E. Robichaux) writes: >Actually, the Onslow County, NC area offers (and has for at least a >year; maybe longer) a direct link to the NC highway patrol. Dialing >"*HP" will connect you to a dispatcher. >This system seems like a good replacement for 911 calls while on the >highway; it doesn't suffer many of the liabilities of cellular 911 >calls that were discussed here a while back. The information supplied above by Paul applies statewide (given the presence of a cell.) It seems that the cellular operators and the state have gotten together on this. There are signs posted on the interstate to advise drivers to dial *HP. Apparently it will connect you to the Troop dispatcher responsible for the area that the call is placed from. If the accident is out of the jurisdiction of the HP, they will notify the local authorities. Typically the HP is reponsible for all auto accident investigations that occur outside of corporate city limits. William T. Sykes AT&T Federal Systems Advanced Technologies Burlington, NC UUCP: att!burl!wts att!cbnewsl!wts