Slaying, Rape Force County to Consider Freeway Call Boxes

Los Angeles officials realized 20 years ago that when a motorist was stranded, a freeway was as desolate as the Mojave Desert. But only recently, after two violent crimes to stranded motorists, have San Diego County officials awakened to just how dangerous its freeways can be.

San Diegans first focused their attention on the stranded motorist issue in November when a 22-year-old University of San Diego student was abducted and killed when she returned to her stalled car with a can of gasoline.

Then, in January, a 27-year-old woman, stranded when her car broke down on Interstate 5, waited for help for four hours while police, sheriff’s and California Highway Patrol cruisers passed by without stopping. When the woman finally accepted a ride from a passer-by, she was raped at gunpoint, she said.

The California Highway Patrol last year assisted almost 100,000 motorists throughout San Diego County who had problems ranging from flat tires to empty gas tanks. The 265-member CHP staff hasn’t increased much during the past five years but the number of drivers has mushroomed.

“People are moving to San Diego by the droves,” said CHP spokesman Harvey Heaton.

As the increased workload strains the CHP’s ability to respond quickly to emergencies, the agency is looking for a system that will solve the stranded-driver problem without requiring an increase in the number of officers or in the amount of radio traffic.

An emergency freeway call box system could be the answer.

CHP officials have remained neutral in the debate over a freeway call box system, Heaton said. But based on information that he received from CHP officials in Los Angeles, he believes that call boxes would benefit San Diego.

In Los Angeles, call boxes are placed a quarter of a mile apart and motorists are connected to a central CHP switchboard, which lights up to show an operator the location of the box. The motorist can ask the operator to call a tow truck, notify a friend or relative or send an officer.

Most of the calls received from call boxes do not require an officer to respond, Heaton said. In addition to helping motorists, the call boxes “could be a more timely way of reporting accidents,” Heaton said.

City and county officials are studying the possibility of installing a system similar to that in Los Angeles. Although no one is quite sure where the money will come from, officials seem to agree that any call box system should be a financed on a regional basis.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is awaiting a study from the Department of Public Works on the pros and cons of freeway call boxes which is expected to be released April 12.

The least expensive call box system, one that does not automatically identify the location of the caller, would cost about $5.6 million to install at half-mile intervals along the county’s 283 miles of freeway, county officials estimate.

Ralph Thielicke, senior county transportation specialist, said call boxes became a public issue after the death of USD honor student Anne Catherine Swanke in November and the rape of the 27-year-old woman whose car broke down on Interstate 5.

Thielicke said that one of the reasons why San Diego didn’t follow Los Angeles in using call boxes was that “Los Angeles had a lot more traffic. The freeways are older and not as wide as they are here.”

Thielicke said a joint task force of state, county and city officials has not yet been formed to study the call box issue but, “I’m working with the staffs of both Caltrans (the state Department of Transportation) and the city. We’ve been working together since January and we are sharing information and talking about the different (funding) options.”

Some of those options include using county and city general funds and local and state road funds. Other options might include placing a surcharge on intrastate telephone bills, Thielicke said.

Stuart Harvey, chief of the Caltrans traffic safety branch, said his office would “cooperate with any local agency that wants to provide installation for the call box system.” But proposals that the state agency fund the system, as some people have suggested, “is not likely under the current constraints on funds for highway construction projects,” Harvey said.

Officials also are exploring the possible use of a mobile telephone system which, according to preliminary information, appears to be less costly that the other systems being considered because no telephone cables have to be laid.

Linda Bonniksen, assistant public relations manager for PacTel Mobile Access, said that a cellular (mobile) communications system should be available in San Diego County by late June or early July.

Calls made from a cellular telephone are sent to a receiver which is connected to a regular telephone network, Bonniksen said. The calls are sent to a mobile telephone switching center and relayed to a telephone or mobile unit.

But, Bonniksen said, it’s too early to tell whether a cellular call box system is more economical. Because this is the first attempt to place a mobile cellular telephone in a fixed location, she said, “The equipment is still in the testing ing) options.”

Some of those options include using county and city general funds and local and state road funds. Other options might include placing a surcharge on intrastate telephone bills, Thielicke said.

Stuart Harvey, chief of the Caltrans traffic safety branch, said his office would “cooperate with any local agency that wants to provide installation for the call box system.” But proposals that the state agency fund the system, as some people have suggested, “is not likely under the current constraints on funds for highway construction projects,” Harvey said.

Officials also are exploring the possible use of a mobile telephone system which, according to preliminary information, appears to be less costly that the other systems being considered because no telephone cables have to be laid.

Linda Bonniksen, assistant public relations manager for PacTel Mobile Access, said that a cellular (mobile) communications system should be available in San Diego County by late June or early July.

Calls made from a cellular telephone are sent to a receiver which is connected to a regular telephone network, Bonniksen said. The calls are sent to a mobile telephone switching center and relayed to a telephone or mobile unit.

But, Bonniksen said, it’s too early to tell whether a cellular call box system is more economical. Because this is the first attempt to place a mobile cellular telephone in a fixed location, she said, “The equipment is still in the testing stages and prices haven’t been set.”

The freeway call box system is popular with motorists in Los Angeles, Thielicke said. But, he said, “The other point of view is that it’s very costly and it may not be as cost-effective an expenditure as road maintenance. It’s just one more thing competing for a limited amount of money.”