Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Turnpike has begun removing more than 1,000 emergency roadside call boxes because too few people use them now that nearly everyone has a cellphone.
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The turnpike commission says it will save about $250,000 a year by removing the boxes, which should be gone by the end of the month.
The boxes were installed in 1988 and in the year 2,000 motorists used them more than 18,000 times to call for help. Last year, the boxes were only used 772 times.
The turnpike’s chief operating officer, Craig Shuey, says cellphones are safer, too, because motorists can remain in their vehicles while calling for help, instead of standing along the side of the road as traffic passes.
Why doesn’t the PA Turnpike Commission install No Smoking signs at the rest stops.People tend to congregate and smoke outside, near the rest stops. If outside smoking can be controlled at major league sports stadiums, there is no reason wny the PA Turnpike, can’t do the same. If people are addicted to nicotine (including many frum Yidden), let them take their smoking to an area, away from the immediate vicinity of the rest stop building.
“too few people” use the boxes, so they’re taking the boxes out. What about the 772 people who needed to use the boxes last year? What would they have done without the boxes? What will people do if they break down, and don’t have cell phones, and have no way to call for help? Because the majority don’t need the boxes, the minority will have to suffer? If you can’t afford to buy a cell phone, you don’t deserve to be helped? Something’s wrong here.