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An emergency telephone is a phone specifically provided for making calls to emergency services and is most often found in a place of special danger or where it is likely that there will be a need to make emergency calls. It is also sometimes known as blue lights.
Although it is difficult to determine when and where the earliest highway emergency phones were developed, undoubtedly one of the earliest examples were the freeway phones developed in Western Australia in 1966. This system was developed by Alan Harman, an employee of a Western Australian security firm, Central Station Security Company, Electronic Signals Pty Ltd, who came up with the idea after reading of a pile-up on the Kwinana Freeway. The newspaper article mentioned that assistance had been difficult to provide to those involved in the pile-up. The system Harman envisaged was a series of telephone units in a box on a short post, spaced every 160 metres (0.1 mi) on Perth's freeways. Picking up the handset would trigger an alarm in the Main Roads control centre and police, fire or ambulance could then be determined by the caller. Harman developed the system with the approval of the Main Roads Commissioner and Chief Engineer, by adapting the existing design of communication facilities used at the security firm in which he worked. [1]
Emergency telephones are commonly found alongside major roads throughout the world. In the United Kingdom, orange "SOS" call boxes are spaced every 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) on all motorways as well as some major "A" roads, with roadside markers indicating the nearest phone. Emergency telephones were installed every 0.25 miles (400 m) on all limited-access highways ("Freeways") throughout Southern California in the United States beginning in the 1970s. In Melbourne, Australia, emergency telephones were introduced on metropolitan freeways in 1976, originally on the Tullamarine, South Eastern and Lower Yarra (West Gate) Freeways. [2] On Italian "Autostrade" ("Motorways"), "SOS" emergency phones, generally coloured in yellow, are found spaced every 2 kilometres (1.2 mi).
As cell phone use continues to increase, the need for emergency telephones declines and they are being phased out in many cities. [3] In California, freeway call boxes dropped from 98,000 uses in 2001 to 20,100 in 2010, or about 1 call per box per month. The annual maintenance of freeway call boxes for the Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways (SAFE) program in the San Francisco Bay Area was $1.7 million annually in 2011. [4] During the 2010s, California removed most of their call boxes in urban and suburban areas, leaving them only in areas with minimal cell reception. [5] [6]
These telephones are almost always marked by a placard or sign indicating a unique serial number or identifier which allows the authorities to know exactly where the caller is - even if the caller does not know - by having the caller read the short identifier from the placard over the telephone. Some phones are equipped with the equivalent of caller id and the agent receiving the call can identify the location even if the caller cannot. In most U.S. states with roadside call boxes, the call box placard has the route's milepost reading. In California, call boxes are identified by their mileage through individual counties using postmiles for reference. Each box has a 2-letter identifier for the county, followed by the route number, then a 3 or 4 digit number corresponding to the route's post mileage calculated in tenths of miles.
Emergency phones can also be found at the ends of bridges or near cliffs which have a history of suicides. These calls are generally routed directly to the appropriate support agencies such as The Samaritans in the UK. They are also occasionally found along the coastline where members of the public may wish to report swimmers or boats in danger at sea. In the UK such phones connect directly to the Coastguard. Emergency phones are also found in elevators where entrapment is very common. These emergency phones connect to a live operator who can help people escape from the stopped elevator.
Some car models have an SOS button that connects them to the car company's emergency centre or the emergency services (112) and provide GPS location data. If the car crashes and the airbags inflate, then the emergency phone inside the car activates, even if the occupant(s) cannot reach it. Within Europe the eCall initiative has made this functionality mandatory in all cars sold from April 2018. [7]
In some countries, they are also found in places where people may feel vulnerable or unsafe at night. They are commonly found on university campuses, urban parks and housing estates. These are generally linked to security companies who patrol the streets where the phones are located. And on campuses, they typically connect to the campus security or police. [8]
Improving coverage of the cellular network in combination with high maintenance and upkeep costs have resulted in declining usage of emergency telephones for highways. In Belgium and the Netherlands, roadside emergency telephones have been retired from service as of 2017. In case of emergency, drivers are expected to use their own cellphone to alert emergency services. In some sparsely populated areas in Wallonia, roadside emergency telephones are expected to remain operational until 2020.
Enhanced 911 is a system used in North America to automatically provide the caller's location to 911 dispatchers. 911 is the universal emergency telephone number in the region. In the European Union, a similar system exists known as E112 and known as eCall when called by a vehicle.
An emergency telephone number is a number that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assistance. The emergency number differs from country to country; it is typically a three-digit number so that it can be easily remembered and dialed quickly. Some countries have a different emergency number for each of the different emergency services; these often differ only by the last digit.
999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for emergency assistance. Countries and territories using the number include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Guernsey, Hong Kong, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, Jersey, Kenya, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, Poland, Qatar, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Seychelles, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.
Route 208 is an expressway in the northern part of New Jersey in the United States. It runs 10.07 miles (16.21 km) from an interchange with Route 4 and County Route 79 in Fair Lawn northwest to an interchange with Interstate 287 (I-287) in Oakland. The route runs through suburban areas of Bergen and Passaic counties as a four- to six-lane divided highway. It is an expressway, as intersections with cross roads are controlled by interchanges, but is not a freeway as several driveways exist. The route runs through the communities of Fair Lawn, Glen Rock, Hawthorne, Wyckoff, and Franklin Lakes along the way, interchanging with CR 507 in Fair Lawn and CR 502 in Franklin Lakes.
A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway service area (UK), services (UK), travel plaza, rest stop, oasis (US), service area, rest and service area (RSA), resto, service plaza, lay-by, and service centre (Canada). Facilities may include park-like areas, fuel stations, public toilets, water fountains, restaurants, and dump and fill stations for caravans / motorhomes.
Computer-aided dispatch (CAD), also called computer-assisted dispatch, is a method of dispatching taxicabs, couriers, field service technicians, mass transit vehicles or emergency services assisted by computer. It can either be used to send messages to the dispatchee via a mobile data terminal (MDT) and/or used to store and retrieve data. A dispatcher may announce the call details to field units over a two-way radio. Some systems communicate using a two-way radio system's selective calling features. CAD systems may send text messages with call-for-service details to alphanumeric pagers or wireless telephony text services like SMS. The central idea is that persons in a dispatch center are able to easily view and understand the status of all units being dispatched. CAD provides displays and tools so that the dispatcher has an opportunity to handle calls-for-service as efficiently as possible.
A call box or callbox is a box containing a special-purpose direct line telephone or other telecommunications device which has been used by various industries and institutions as a way for employees or clients at a remote location to contact a central dispatch office.
Phone fraud, or more generally communications fraud, is the use of telecommunications products or services with the intention of illegally acquiring money from, or failing to pay, a telecommunication company or its customers.
The Australian telephone numbering plan governs the allocation of telephone numbers in Australia. It has changed many times, the most recent major reorganisation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority taking place between 1994 and 1998.
Victoria has the highest density of roads of any state in Australia. Unlike Australia's other mainland states, which have vast areas with virtually no residents, Victoria has population centres spread out over most of the state, with only the far north-west and the Victorian Alps without significant settlements. Population centres are linked by high quality highways and freeways. The state capital, Melbourne, has the most extensive freeway network of any city in Australia.
The road hierarchy categorizes roads according to their functions and capacities. While sources differ on the exact nomenclature, the basic hierarchy comprises freeways, arterials, collectors, and local roads. Generally, the functional hierarchy can more or less correspond to the hierarchy of roads by their owner or administrator.
000 Emergency, also known as Triple Zero or Triple 0, and sometimes stylised Triple Zero (000), is the primary national emergency telephone number in Australia. The Emergency Call Service is operated by Telstra, and overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), and is intended only for use in life-threatening or time-critical emergencies.
119 (one-one-nine) is an emergency telephone number in parts of Asia and in Jamaica. From May 2020, 119 was introduced in the United Kingdom as the single non-emergency number for the COVID-19 testing helpline in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. From January 2022, 119 was introduced in Romania as the single non-emergency number for reporting cases of abuse, neglect, exploitation and any other form of violence against the child.
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running in a general east–west compass direction for 111.57 miles (179.55 km) in Connecticut, from the New York state line to the Rhode Island state line. I-95 from Greenwich to East Lyme is part of the Connecticut Turnpike, during which it passes through the major cities of Stamford, Bridgeport, and New Haven. After leaving the turnpike in East Lyme, I-95 is known as the Jewish War Veterans Memorial Highway and passes through New London, Groton, and Mystic, before exiting the state through North Stonington at the Rhode Island border.
The James Bay Road, officially the Route Billy-Diamond Highway, is a remote wilderness highway winding its way through the Canadian Shield in northwestern Quebec and reaches into the James Bay region. It starts in Matagami as an extension of Route 109 and ends at Radisson. The road is fully paved, well maintained, and plowed during the winter. It was originally constructed to carry loads of 300 tons and has mostly gentle curves and hills with wide shoulders. The road is maintained by the Eeyou Istchee James Bay Regional Government. Connecting to other routes such as the Trans-Taiga Road and the Route du Nord, the highway draws tourists interested in reaching the remote wilderness surrounding James Bay, part of Hudson Bay.
The road transport in Brisbane, Australia, consists of a network of highways, freeways and motorways. Some motorways have tolls applied.
Telephone numbers in Italy are managed by the Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (AGCOM), a national regulatory authority for the communication industry located in Rome.
Driver location signs are signs placed every 500 metres (550 yd) along each side of English motorways, and some other major English roads, to provide information that will allow motorists to know their precise location. As of July 2009, roads in England, but not Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, have these signs. This information might be useful in the event of an emergency or breakdown. They were first introduced in 2003, and they complement distance marker posts. Both types of sign display a unique location number. The number, although given without units, is the distance in kilometres from a designated datum location for the road, although signs meant for driver navigation are in miles.
Terminology related to road transport—the transport of passengers or goods on paved routes between places—is diverse, with variation between dialects of English. There may also be regional differences within a single country, and some terms differ based on the side of the road traffic drives on. This glossary is an alphabetical listing of road transport terms.
SOS Alarm Sverige AB is a Swedish publicly owned company that operates emergency number 112 in Sweden. The enterprise is owned equally by the Government of Sweden and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions.
In Los Angeles County, for example, more than 1 million calls for aid were placed from call boxes in 1988, when the L.A.-area had 4,500 highway phones, Jager said. Fast forward to today and the number of call boxes stands at 576.