Keep motorists SAFE, but not with call boxes

San Diego County wants to keep motorists SAFE with an expensive yellow-

brick road of bright-yellow call boxes. Too bad the yellow-brick road doesn't

get traveled on very often anymore, giving legislators a reason to try and close it

down.

The San Diego Service Authority for Free Emergencies, also known as SAFE,

is a government entity that maintains San Diego County's emergency call

boxes through a $1.00 yearly fee on vehicle registrations. Found throughout

the county along highways and in remote areas, the yellow call boxes connect

directly to trained dispatchers to help motorists in times of emergencies.

In 1990, 170,511 call box calls were made by motorists to receive roadside

assistance; in 2010, however, the number of call box calls was a measly 11,625.

Although the number of calls has significantly decreased over the past two

decades, the program still receives approximately $2.6 million each year for its

use. Over the years, the SAFE program has built up to $12.8 million in reserve.

Though the SAFE program plans on removing several emergency call boxes

over the next few years, the estimated cost of maintaining the current call

boxes will significantly increase, specifically the cost to outsource the calls to a

contracted company called TeleTran Tek Services.

In a time of smart-phones and in-vehicle communication systems like On-

Star, the question remains as to whether emergency call boxes are still a

necessity. Spending millions of dollars on a program used less than 12,000

times a year may not be the most practical use of tax-payer dollars, especially

during a recession. Instead of spending the money to maintain a program

that is barely used, that money could go towards fixing county roads or other

transportation services.

California Assemblyman and San Diego mayoral candidate, Nathan Fletcher,

recently introduced a bill to the legislature that would stop the $1.00 fee

collection for this program, and distribute the $12.8 million reserve money

to 18 municipalities in San Diego County. This bill would allow the SAFE

program to keep $4 million in reserve, which would be enough to fund the

program until 2016. If the bill passes, SAFE would be required to create a

long-term plan on how many call boxes are necessary, where they would be

located, and how they would be maintained.

I personally have never used a call box before, and I hope I'll never have a

reason to. Yet, I would never want to be stuck in a situation wishing that the

county continued to keep these yellow lifesavers up and running. After all,

those little yellow boxes with that neon-blue sign do ease my anxiety on the

road, especially when my phone is going in and out of service.

During the recent San Diego blackout in September 2011, many motorists

depended on the call box service, showing a 918 percent spike in call box

calls. Cell phones are not always dependable, and during emergencies and

countywide disasters, call boxes can be become a necessity to stranded

motorists in need of help. After all, the SAFE program was created in 1985

after a woman was sexually assaulted when her vehicle was broken down on

the side of a San Diego freeway. They help motorists contact CHP, tow trucks,

and any other available services.

The outrageous number of taxpayer money devoted to this program,

however, may not be worth the few calls it receives, even in emergencies.

No government entity should have over $12 million in reserve when the

state itself is going bankrupt. It is important to keep some type of roadside

emergency program throughout the county, but not at expense of taxpayer

dollars to be sitting in the bank. In a county with over 3 million people, a total

of only 175 used the call boxes during the San Diego blackout. Though those

175 people may have greatly benefited from a call to emergency dispatchers,

are millions of dollars a year necessary to service less than 0.00006 percent of

people throughout the county? Perhaps it’s time for San Diego to say goodbye

to the yellow brick road through a new piece of legislation, or at least cut some

of the funding it takes to maintain it.