Vast majority of accidental 911 cell phone calls are butt dials
A report out of Chicago today says inadvertent dialing by one’s cellphone to 911 emergency services is becoming a serious safety problem.
According to a CBS report officials in Evanston, Ill say that nearly 20% of the wireless calls they get each month are “unintentional” or “abandoned” calls; and they believe the vast majority of those accidental cell phone calls are butt dials.
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Butt dials happen if a user sticks the phone in their back pocket and bends over or makes other motions that can cause the phone to dial. Again from CBS: “About 500 times each month, someone mistakenly dials the Evanston 911 center from their cell phone. About 90% of those unintentional calls are the result of someone fumbling around in their purse or sitting on their cell phone and accidentally speed dialing 911.”
The problem is of course that 911 operators have to follow up on the calls and in some cases officers may be sent to find the caller – which can be a time-consuming problem with a cellphone user.
Gawker wrote up an interesting, but sort of scary butt dialing story here. And here’s a report about how a butt-dial busted a drug deal.
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