Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: 4 Jun 91 17:26:59 GMT From: Darren Alex Griffiths Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Emergency Highway Phones Message-ID: Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 429, Message 6 of 12 Lines: 33 A local newscast reported on some interesting highway emergency phones this morning. It seems that CalTrans is installing phones throughout the San Francisco bay area on major highways. The phones connect you directly to to highway patrol and in will be spaced as close as a half-mile apart. The phones will be installed in pairs, on each side of the highway, to discourage people from crossing busy roads. All that is fairly standard, the interesting part is that the phones are all cellular and run on solar power so no wires are needed to hook 'em up. The reported said that the phones could be installed in about twenty minutes. They are all being paid for by a one dollar surcharge on vehicle registration. They did not mention which cellular carrier the phones operate on and whether that company is getting any money. All bay area counties are getting the phones except SF, Marin and Napa because voters in those counties turned down the surcharge. The idea is pretty neat, but it does raise a few interesting questions. I wonder what kind of security measures are taken. I'm not to worried about some bad guy over hearing a distress call from an helpless motorist at four in the morning and getting there before the cops. I would be interested in whether or not someone could steal the serial number to one of the phones and reprogram their own phone in order to make calls at someone else's expense. It would also be interesting to see if most of the phones have the same serial number or if they are all different, and whether or not the phones are smart enough to send their location to the dispatcher when a call is placed. Cheers, darren alex griffiths (415) 708-3294 dag@well.sf.ca.us